Lightened Hearts, Darkened Eyes
by Ben10extreme
Summary: Cast away from their own home, Naruto and Sasuke look for another chance. Oogway takes them to the Valley, where they are more than welcome to live. However, dark fate still follows them, as events from back home will soon prove. Po for one refuses to have their still fragile friendship break because of gradual temptations. Can he and his friends keep the two together?
1. No Going Back

**I have another fanfic written! Hazzah! This one is like my Golden Warriors series, but I'm going for a more original outlook this time. Be sure to read it before you criticize!**

**Let's begin!**

* * *

It was a very chilly night in the Village Hidden in the Leaves. The villagers were not at ease. If anything, it was very tension was caused by something terrible being decided by the Fifth Hokage. Banishment. That's right. Fellow ninjas were going to be banished tonight, because they made a choice that will forever haunt them.

Those ninjas were Naruto and Sasuke.

The news was groundbreaking. A lot of people rejoiced that idea. They were all like, "Finally! We are free from the demon!" Or "I knew that Uchiha kid was bad news." Or "Good riddance, bastards!" Most of them weren't that nice. Scary isn't it? That was supposed to be _nice. _As strong as Leaf citizens are, they were surprisingly mean.

It wasn't all bad, though. Some people actually wanted them to stay. Loved ones, best friends, teachers, plenty of them. But it wasn't enough to overthrow the vote. And they thought it was tragic.

Let's see what the boys have to say for themselves. But first, let's cut back a few hours:

Naruto Uzamaki was sitting outside the Hokages room, hugging his knees. He was a Leaf genin, had a orange jumpsuit with hints of blue on it, and blue shoes. He also had whiskers on his cheeks, signifying a fox like appearance. Speaking of foxes, he was also jinchjurki of the Nine-Tails, the most powerful Tailed Beast yet. But thats not what's shocking. There was dried blood on his hands, and more of it on his clothes. The blood didn't traumatize him. It was how he got it on him that scarred him for life.

"Why...? Why did it have to be like this? Why couldn't I control my anger? It never got so out of hand before..." He mumbled this to himself for almost an hour. Tears refused to stop brimming from his eyes. They were going to kill him. He was warned not to let it spiral out of control, and he couldn't do it. And they were going to kill him for it.

"Stop your whining already." The ninja next to him said. His name was Sasuke Uchiha. Status: Genin, genius, one of the few remaining Uchiha survivors. His trademark powers were the Sharingan and the Curse Mark, which he was able to control for a time. Like his comrade, there was blood on his hands and clothes as well. But he was calm, unlike his friend, who couldn't stop sobbing. "We did what we had to. We both knew what the consequences were going to be. We both accepted it when we did it."

"What are you talking about? We KILLED all of those people. LEAF citizens, Sasuke. The very ones I swore to protect...and their blood is now all over me. Don't you get it? This will never go away!" Naruto didn't shout anything, this was all through soft whispering.

Sasuke shook his head. "You don't think I know that?!" He gritted his teeth. This damn village finally broke his friend by making him break one of the most important rules of all: Never kill a civilian.

Sasuke was no fool. They've been played for ones, though. And he cursed himself for not seeing it coming. He could recall it perfectly, since it was merely an hour ago...

* * *

_**Evening...**_

Naruto and Sasuke were just walking from the training grounds, after a great spar against each other. It was another draw.

"Aw man! I could have won, too!"

"In your dreams, loser."

"Hey, neither of us won, so who's really the loser?! Wait..." It was their playful banter, as usual. Nothing sinister, or anything. Sasuke was back to his normal self. He was pretty pissed when he woke up from his coma from encountering Itachi. He had a brief fight with Naruto out of rage. But because Kakashi had a small talk with him, he's cooled down considerably.

For now, he's let go of his revenge obsession, and focused on being with his friends. He patched things up with Naruto, and told Sakura that he was fine now. The rest of that day went on smoothly.

Or so he thought it would...because this is when he discovers the truth...about Naruto...

See, the citizens shared an unfair distaste of the young blonde and his best friend, and there were multiple times he was either beaten, mobbed, or cursed at. Fighting off the One-Tails, Gaara, made all of that simmmer down a bit. But it still never faded away. What was serious about this time? Sasuke didn't even know about it. And for once, they took it too far...

It got dark pretty quickly, as they were heading towards their respective homes. Naruto in his small apartment, and Sasuke, at his inherited house. But Sasuke forgot to ask something from Naruto, and went back to talk with him. He followed them to his apartment, but when he found him, he took cover behind a different building. He looked back, and saw a gang of ninjas he's never seen before gather around Naruto.

_What's going on over there? _

Naruto had his head down, his face utterly emotionless. Sasuke never saw this before.

"You guys again...?" The tall ninja dude looked over him, with a smug smile. " You know why we're here, freak. Its time for your nighttime thrashing." Sasuke narrowed his eyes. This was nightly?

"Look...I'm really not in the mood for it. Can't you just double it, tomorrow? Let me be, for tonight?" The slighly less taller ninja behind him kicked him in the leg, making him collapse. "That's so adorable...the freak thinks he has a choice..."

Naruto grabbed his leg, hissing from the pain. The other ninjas followed suit, kicked him in the back. They then began beating him senselessly to the ground, and enjoying it, too. Sasuke watched on in shock. They were tearing Naruto apart, and he was letting it happen? Why?

"What's wrong, demon fox?! You think that a few good deeds changes who you are?!" One of them picked him up, slammed him into the wall, and kneed him in the ribs. Naruto was beginning to draw blood, as his vision was blurring. One of the female ninjas took out a kunai, and jabbed him in the arm, making him hold back a scream.

Sasuke watched this unfold. They called him a "demon fox" for some reason. Whatever the reason, that didn't give them the right to abuse him like this. But why wasn't he fighting back? _He doesn't want to get in trouble with the higher ups...but still..._

"I know." Another female ninja said. Her hands were glowing a faded green. "Let's mess up his body. Maybe I'll...pop a blood vessel? Or sever the nerves from bis brain? Oooh...maybe I can stop his heart altogether..." They all agreed to that.

Sasuke was dumbfounded. He was going to let them kill him, all because he didn't have the guts to stand up to his fellow ninja? All because he didn't want to suffer severe consequences from the higher ups?

_To hell with that! _

"That's enough." He finally stepped out of the shadows, making his existence known. The ninjas were surprised to see him here, Naruto especially. "Sasuke?"

"Hey, Sasuke! You're just in time! We were just about to put an end to this little brat's sad existence right here. You've got a front row seat." Sasuke clenched his fists. They were saying that so _casually. _It pissed him off.

"And the best part about it, is that he won't squeal a word about it, even if he survives. That means more fun for us the next day!" That didn't help Sasuke's temper. "Naruto...is this true?"

"Sasuke-"

"Naruto. If they do this to you all the time, you MUST tell me." Before he could respond, Naruto was jabbed in the face by the guy ninja again. "Answer him, demon!"

That set Sasuke off. In one swift movement, he rushd to the guy who just hit the blonde, leg sweeped him, then spin kicked him into another wall. The others backed up after seeing this action. He was not messing around. "Leave. Now."

That didn't come so easily. They just stared at him in disgust. "What is this? Its one thing that you are on the same team as it, but now you're defending it? Are you a demon lover, Sasuke? Too thonk we thought you were one of us."

He was emotionless as he helped Naruto up. "First of all, I don't give a _damn _what you all think about me. Second..." He then uppercutted that same guy, and he went crashing into the ground. "Don't ever refer to Naruto as an " it". He is a living being just like the rest of us, and is not a demon, either."

The ninjas got up after a moment. "You heard him, guys. He IS a demon lover. Kill them both." Sasuke was not affected by this, as he only gestured a mere, "come on." These guys were rogue ninjas from the Leaf, he was aware of that. Bit they were also amateurs compared to him. Naruto was not quite ready to fight back, fearing whst might happen.

There were seven in total. No problem for him. The first rogue charged at him with a punch, and he blocked it with one hand, then tripped him with another leg sweep.

The second and third ones charged at him from both sides, as he stood on his hands, and spun around, kicked both of them in the face.

The forth one threw multiple blades of shuriken and kunai at him. Pfft, he didn't even need his Sharingan for this. He simply moved to one side, deflected a kunai with his own, and kicked it right back at him. The guy was hit right in the knee, as he grunted in pain.

The two female ninjas attacked him next, wielding swords. Sasuke huffed, they really were amateurs. He grabbed one kunai, as they went to swipe at him. He ducked at the last possible moment, as he used the kunai, to block both strikes. He then tripped them both, punching one in the stomach, making her crash into tje ground, and kicked the other in the face, bashing her into the wall.

Sasuke dusted off his hands. "Really? You really tried to challenge me with just that? You all are a bunch of-GAH!" The leader thrusted his own sword into Sasuke's side. He was invisible! He cursed himself for not better preparing for things like that.

"Ya see, Sasuke?! THIS is what happens to demon lovers!" He then kicked the boy in the back, and he went down easily. The damn blade had poison on it! Sasuke felt his world getting dark, as his vision began to fade. "Sayanara, Sauske. We'll accept your apology when we take care of the...brat..." The voice was filled with fear now. This confused Sauske. But then he felt something evil foul up the atmosphere, aand he haf no idea why. "W...What..."

**"Get...off...of him..." **Naruto has breached the Nine-Tails chakra from seeing Sasuke get stabbed. His mind was constantly telling him to stop right there, think of what consequences this will bring. But his feral mode wiped that warning away. **"Grrrr..." **

The ninja were filled with fear from seeing Naruto worked up. "I knew it! He's bringing his demonic powers to the surface!" Sasuke finally got up to see the commotion, and saw Naruto in Nine-Tails rage. He was atonished. "What...is this...?"

Naruto POUNCED at the female ninja first, the one who tried to stop his heart. His razor nails slashed right at her throat. The blood bubbled, as she fell to the ground. Couldn't even get a scream out.

Sasuke was now heavily astonished. _What the?! _

The boy then went to slash at the shuriken guy, shredding his chest as he screamed in agony. Sasuke couldn't have too many people waking up than there were already, so he threw a kunai right at his head to silence him.

The five remaining ninja hesitated, before attempting to attack again. Naruto didn't break a sweat as his claws slashed at the other woman's face, and jammed his fist right in the big ones stomach.

Sasuke decided that this wasn't the time for questions. He grabbed another kunai, charged at the fat ninja, and slit his throat open. Naruto then kicked the other guy so hard that his neck twisted clean around, and he fell to the ground.

Only the leader was left now, quivering in his shoes. "Freaks...both of you freaks...monsters even! Demons! Both of you!" Sasuke had enough. If they kill the underlings, they leader goes down too. He charged a Chidori and rammed it through his chest. "The only thing that makes him a demon...is that you all keep him from doing the right thing...then push him over the edge." He removed his hand, and the leader fell, lifeless.

Sasuke walked up to Naruto, who has finally regained control of himself. He realized what he has done, and looked at his hands. They were ckver in the blood he spilled. "Oh no...no...nononono...what did I do?! What have I done?!" He was shivering a lot. Sasuke put a hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort him, not like it did much good.

Sasuke meanwhile figured things out. No way was this going to pass quietly. He could already sense the Anbu on their way. He didn't bother running, because he wasn't leaving Naruto behind. But from the little display he saw, he figured something out, something that made Naruto make all the more sense to him.

_Naruto is the Kyuubi host... _

* * *

**Present time...**

They stood still in waiting, unsure and almost fearing what happens next. Theh then hear a knock kn the other side of the door. "You can enter now."

Naruto went in first, Sasuke followed. They saw Kakashi, Jiraiya, and Tsunade there, all wearing sad faces. He sighed. "How are we gonna be punished?"

Tsunade noticed his dry tears, very much already regretting what she was about to say. "The Council has come to a vote. I pleaded for no execution, in exchange for the other options for murder." She wasn't an idiot. She knew Naruto wouldn't purposely do something like that. But she was outvoted. Therefore, it was out of her hands. "Naruto Uzumaki...Sasuke Uchiha...by the order of the Leaf Village Council...you are both...banished...from the Hidden Leaf." She tried not to cry.

Naruto was in shock/horror, as Sasuke was deeply shocked as well. "What?! Banished?!"

"Naruto...you know how much I care for you...which is why I pleaded for any punishment, any at all, that didn't involve killing the both of you. The banishment vote was from all members. I'm so sorry I couldn't prevent this..." Jiraiya and Kakashi were disappointed as well.

"Nothing we could do to change their minds. Sorry, Naruto, Sasuke." The boys were utterly speechless. Because the Council thought their self-defense was false, they had to leave. And they couldn't come back. Or they would be killed on the spot.

Sasuke finally said something. "When...do they expect us to leave?"

"Tomorrow morning, at dawn. I already had the Anbu pack your things." Tsunade was really crying now, as she said the next part. "You two...are no longer...Leaf Ninja...please...hand over...your headbands..."

This broke Naruto's heart. This headband was given to him by Iruka, one of the only figures in his early childhood who didn't treat him like he was less that dirt. As an early graduate. Naruto then asked a question he didn't want to ask.

"If I leave the village...will anyone hurt you guys again? Will you be much more safer if I left?" Now it was the older ninja's hearts that were broken, hearing him say this. But reluctantly, they nodded. Naruto then looked at his feet. "Then...its worth it...I want to be Hokage...but not if me being here only hurts the Village more and more..." He slowly removed his headband, and put it on Tsunade's desk. "I care about the village and my friends more than I do myself...if this will help them more than hurt them...then I have to do it..."

Sasuke, seeing his friend do this, nodded, then followed suit. "That goes double for me." He removed his headband as well, putting it on the desk. Tsunade wiped her face. "Giving up the Hokage dream for the sake of the Village...you've spoken like a true one...again...I'm so sorry I couldn't prevent this..."

The boys now had brave faces, embracing the consequences like real ninja. "Dawn it is...then we leave..." They exited the room quietly, two ANBU agents following them out. Tsunade let them close the door, then she broke down crying.

* * *

_**Dawn...**_

Naruto and Sasuke had backpacks on, along with some fresh clothes. This was it. They were really leaving. Both of them. Naruto turns to Sasuke. "Time to face the music, I suppose."

"Hmph."

They took a deep breath, and walked out the doors. Every Leaf villager and Ninja watched them walk towards the gates, some with hatred, some with sadness, most were mixed emotions.

Then they passed their friends. Ino and Hinata were crying their eyes out. Kiba, Neji, Shino, and Shikamaru waved sadly. Choji, Tenten, Lee, Akamaru, and all the others watched them with tears in their eyes. They finally approached the gates, where Iruka, Kakashi, and Sakura awaited. Here comes the hard part.

"Naruto...Master Jiraiya was too emotional to face you...so he asked me to give tou this in his place." Iruka handed Naruto a light blue scroll, as the blond took it. "Its a scroll that reveals the many Rasengan moves he knows. He wants you to learn them on your own." Naruto sniffed, wiped hks nose, and hugged Iruka. Tell him I said thanks...to you too. Thank you, for everything."

Sasuke stared at Kakashi, as he handed him something in a light package. "Here, Sasuke. This is the sword that I used to use when I was a kid. I want you to have it." Sasuke was surprised at the personal value of the sword, as he hesitated. But he took it anyway. "Thank you, Kakashi...Sensei." The masked teacher smiled sadly behind his mask. This is the first time he's referred to him as "Sensei". And now it was also the last.

Finally...Sakura. The most heartbroken of all of them. She was fearing that she would lose Sasuke and Team Seven would be broken. It was worse than she imagined. She's lost BOTH of them. But they did what they needed to do. She doesn't blame them at all for that.

She faced her two favorite boys in the world, and hugged them tight. They didn't hug back, to spare her from crying more tears. But the emotion was there. "Guys..."

Naruto pulled back first. "Sakura...you are a very special girl...you're powerful...you're beautiful...and I don't deserve you. Now you see why."

Sasuke was next. "Sakura...I never tried to get closer to either of you...because of my obsession with revenge. My eyes were cleared, but now its too late." Sakura sadly smiled. "Sasuke...its never too late...you and Naruto made up. Thats what made me happy."

She took something lut of her pouch, and handed it to them. It was the photo all of the Teamd took once. They were all bunched up together at the Academy, smiling big. Except for Sasuke, of course. "I will help lead the Leaf to a better future, in your place. As long as you promise to keep that, and never let it go. Please...remember us forever." The boys nodded. "We will."

Kakashi told them that no other village was going to take them. So they had to go to an entirely different country. One called...China. He gave them plenty of money to get there, pay for food, whatever needed to be done. He also told them that becuase of it, all they have left is each other. The boys thanked him one last time, as they faced the road. They looked at each other.

"You ready, Naruto?"

"Let's do it, Sasuke."

They faced the Leaf, their home, one last time. Then they marched off, Sasuke's new sword on his back, Naruto's scroll and map in his hand, as they made off to find a new home in this...China.

They knew there was no going back.

* * *

**And done! I thought this came out quite well, and I want you guys to tell me what you think! Review, Favorite, Follow, I appreciate them all!**

**Until next time!**


	2. Saved By The Turtle

**Another chapter up! Plenty of time passed since the boys' banishment. See them travel quite a distance, and realize that some old problems refuse to go away. **

**Let us begin!**

* * *

Morning has finally come, full bloom. The light of the sun finally revealing itself. It was mean to attempt to lift the dark atmosphere that was caused by the events that just transpired. It didn't significantly help much.

Naruto and Sasuke were already miles away from the Hidden Leaf, because of the head start at dawn. The current events have left exhausted in the mind instead of the body, because it somewhat still couldn't process what has happened.

Sasuke, who has finally let go of his revenge, has just lost his home because he was protecting his friend, who turned out to be the Nine-Tails host. He didn't tell him that he knew though, for if Naruto wanted to tell him, then he'd wait. There are very few times that his Sharingan was wrong. But he felt that this was certain. He had no regrets for what he's done.

As for Naruto...no one could be sure. He hasn't said much since he's accepted his exile. He's lived in the Leaf for years, building bonds, making friends, becoming stronger everyday, and being happy. Because he couldn't hold the leash on the power within him, all of that was gone in mere minutes. Sure, Sasuke was an accomplice, but he still felt very much responsible for this.

Nine-Tails, aka Kurama(real name) was lying in his cage, feeling guilty. Sure, he hated the Leaf, but for the first time in his life, he realized that he's crossed a very sensitive line. He took advantage of the boys moment of weakness, and therefore very closely ruined his life. Sasuke was the only thing he could hold on to now. He tried to talk to the boy, but all he got was:

_Shut up you bastard fox! This is all YOUR fault! _

Very difficult to start a conversation when someone says something like that to you. So he eventually gave up, and lied back down, silent.

Sasuke somehow sensed Naruto's inner outburst. It was something that just came to him when things were really tense, yet too calm to be real. "No use beating yourself up about it, Naruto. What's done is done. We can't move forward if you keep looking back. That isn't like you."

"Look, I'm sorry, alright? We've only been gone for a few hours and I already miss them so much. Don't you miss them?" "Of course I do. But they made their choice, and we made ours. Its as simple as that, nothing complicated about it."

Naruto was unnerved that Sasuke accepted this so calmly. It further proves that he is the mature one of the duo. He took the blow and kept going. Naruto wouldn't come about that easily. "Naruto...I'm not telling you to forget Konoha. What I'm telling you is to accept that it isn't our home anymore. If you can't, then neither of us will last a day out here alone."

"But what about Orochimaru? What if he comes after you again? You know we aren't strong enough to take him on our own, yet." "You said he was crippled, right? If that's true, then that bastard isn't going anywhere anytime soon. But still...that doesn't mean we let our guard down."

Naruto decided that made sense. They were safe, for the moment. "We're headed to China...how should we get there?" "Idiot, you have the map, you tell me." "Oh. Right." Naruto put his scroll in his bag, and took out the map, then opened it. "Let's see...according to this, we should be passing the borders of the Land Of Fire any moment now. After that, we make our way to the Land Of Water, undetected. Since we're exiles, we probably shouldn't let them figure that out."

"Shouldn't be too much of a problem. What then?" Naruto looked back at the map. "It says that we have to pass through the Land Of Whirlpool in order to find a ship willing to travel that far...oh man...that's my clans origin homeland. Its completely desolate. But...its the only closer way to the ships and the ocean." Sasuke shrugged. "Then the Land of Whirlpool it is."

Naruto put up the map, and focused his eyes on the road. He reflected on what some of the goals he's achieved so far in his life. He's gone by his own ninja way, changed many people for the better, learned plenty of techniques along the way, and made many new friends along the way. He even helped the Fifth Hokage find her purpose in the Hidden Leaf. _Grandma Tsunade was the best..._

Sasuke on the other hand, didn't have much to be proud of. All he did was push people away, because he thought that it made him stronger. He was wrong. Revenge was all that he thought about, everyday of his life...until recently. Revenge just wasn't for him anymore, he's put it behind him. _But I doubt that means that it's over..._

They've done what they have done, and there was no changing that. All they have left were each other. It was them vs the world now. But that's what put fear in them, it was just the two of them. Without an actual plan, there's little chance of survival. There isn't much they could do, except keep walking, and hope nothing tries to kill them. Based on some of their history, that hope is not to be trusted. They just needed someone to help guide them to the right direction. But still, sticking together was best.

Enemies were still out to get either of them, that was the thing. Since no other village would accept them, they were very open to danger on the bandits, crooks, serious gang lords, Orochimaru...they pray that no one from the Sound finds them.

"Right here." Naruto pointed at the sign as they crossed it. "The Land of Whirlpool should be in this direction." "Alright, we're going to have to go a little faster if we want to get there before nightfall. Because when the night falls, the scum tend to come out from hiding."

That sign was right near a guys selling ramen, something Naruto gladly bought for the both of them. Sasuke was a little annoyed, but didn't object. "Alright, you said we gotta get to the ships before nightfall. So let's hoof it!" Nodding, they both rushed off using their ninja speed, jumping the numerous tree branches. In their haste, they didn't realize that they were being followed. And by a group they really didn't want to run into.

_There's Sasuke Uchiha, along with the blonde brat. _

_I heard that they've been banished from the Leaf forever._

_Oh...is that so? _

_What a bunch of dumbasses! They practically handed him over to us! Let's tail them and see where they go! _

You guessed right. (Or not) It was the Sound Ninja Four. The boys were already in danger. On the first day of their permanent exile. That calls for a seriously bad day.

**Two hours later...**

After a multitude of twist and jumps and hanging over waterfalls, the boys made it to the Land Of Whirlpool in one piece. It was then that Sasuke figured out why Naruto hesitated on coming to his clan's origin home. It looked completely demolished. There was no sign of life anywhere, not counting the plant life. He almost compared it to his own clans near extinction. It was kinda different. At least there were survivors, yet their lives may be forever changed.

Sasuke came to the chilling conclusion. _An entire land catches even a whiff of serious trouble, it causes panic. Then war. Then nothing but utter annihilation. And I almost fell into that. _

"Alright, no use staring at it. Let's get movin'." Naruto said blankly, as he started to trudge through the not too deep water. Sasuke, after a moment of hesitation, followed right after him. He looked around the numerous destroyed monuments around the area. He saw that most of them had that swirling symbol that Naruto usually has on his jumpsuit. This really was his clan's home.

"Pervy Sage told me that my clan is known to have incredible stamina, which is why I choose to train all the time. Another is the vitality and healing factor. Like, when we get sick or something, we get well far sooner than others. And we also have an incredibly long life span. And also...we are durable. So otherwise a death blow will just cause a serious yet non fatal injury. He said they'd rather not take their chances with that one."

Sasuke was slowly beginning to understand why Naruto has always managed to get back up, other than with sheer willpower. But that's means...one of his parents have to have been an Uzamaki. But he'd rather not bring that up. Even Naruto didn't have a peek of what his parents could have been. They must have been good people, to have a son who believes in righteousness, even when its turned on him. That is someone he can call-

_Wait...something's wrong..._

"Naruto. Keep your guard up. I don't think we're alone out here." Naruto was immediately focused, and looked around them, searching for any sign of trouble around them. He was back-to-back with Sasuke, fulfilling a slightly more thorough search. They heard evil laughter all around them. _Well well, Sasuke finally found the balls to leave his stupid village behind. Wasn't counting on the blond squirt, though. _

At that, four ninja appeared right in front of them, snickering up a storm. Sasuke hissed as his Sharingan activated, and his Curse Mark threatening to reveal itself. "You..."

The Sound Ninja Four. Jirobo, fat guy with brute strength. Kidomaru, creepy spider guy with spider like abilities. Sakon, freaky twin dude with a second head, aka his brother Ukon. Finally, Tayuya, genjutsu user with a demon flute, totally a witch.

"Sasuke, your just in time. We were just about to come get you. Unfortunately we are far off from the Hidden Sound, so we have a lot of traveling to do." Kidomaru said. Sasuke just glared at them all. "I'm not leaving with any of you. Tell Orochimaru to possess somebody else, or whatever the hell he's doing over there."

"What? You're actually turning down a chance at power? To be the strongest there is? What about your revenge?" Jirobo asked, honestly confused. They had him a few days ago. What happened? "Those are my own reasons, none of your concern. Now...get out of the way." Tayuya smirked. " Sorry, kid. But Lord Orochimaru doesn't take no for an answer. You're coming with us, whether you like it or not."

Naruto finally snapped. "He said no already! Get lost!" He charged at Jirobo, and threw a punch at him. He caught it easily. "Not too smart." He then gripped Naruto's fist, and merely pushed him back. It was a pretty forceful push, because of his size and chakra pressure, he practically threw Naruto into a pile of rubble, having it crash onto him.

"Naruto!" Kidomaru threw a punch at Sasuke, as he quickly caught it, only to be jabbed by two more of his fists. The blows made him stagger, as he struggled to see his movements. Kidomaru then launched an eight-way assault, as Sasuke kept stepping backwards, trying but failing to block every attack. If only his Sharingan reached maturity, this would be so much easier. "Heh, Sakon and Tayuya don't even need to interfere in this one!"

Jirobo marched to where he launched Naruto, cracking his knuckles. "Alright blondie! Let's dance!" The boy eventually got up, gripping his knuckle. Getting over the pain, he formed his signature technique. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" At his chant, 30 clones came into existence, looking down upon Jirobo. "Please. That's it?" He launched a powerful punch to the ground, causing spikes to emit from them. The spikes killed all of the clones, as the original was able to dodge. Expecting that, Jirobo rushed in, using his Arhat Fist style, launched a powerful knee to Naruto's stomach, a sound that can be heard from at least a mile. The ground even shook a bit.

Naruto was stunned by the power packed behind that knee. He wasn't ready for these guys. They were too much for either him or Sasuke. He left the village a few months too early. What's worse, no one was coming to help them. He eventually fell to the ground, the pain keeping him from yelling out.

Sasuke saw his friend hurt, and tried to rush in to help him. "Naruto! I'm coming!" But Tayuya rushed and jabbed him in the jaw, sending him flying through several trees. He laid against the last tree he crashed through, groaning. "Enough is enough, scum! You're coming with us! Orochimaru will have his vessel, you can't prevent it!"

Sakon snickered. "That was fast. Although I think Jirobo went overboard with the blond. I barely got to see what he could do." "Who cares? We got what we came for. Kill the brat." Ukon said behind his back, literally. "What a pity...oh well. Mission comes first." Sakon stood over the blond, as he struggled to stand up. Sakon raised a kunai, looking ready to slash. "Lights out, boy!"

_I do believe you people have done enough. _

The group stopped, and looked around for any sign of trouble. " What the hell what that?! Show yourself!" _As you wish..._

At that moment, a cloaked figure revealed itself right in front of them, making them flinch, but only a bit. "I do not wish any harm to be inflicted on anyone. All I ask is that you let me take these boys with me, as I am about to leave for a faraway place soon enough."

Tayuya stifled a maniacal laugh. "That's rich! It really is! The only thing getting harmed in the piece is YOU, mystery dumbass!" The cloaked figure shook his head. "As you wish. While I battle, I will clearly point out the number one flaw all of you have. Unless you think you can knock me out in a few strikes?"

"A few? Buddy, it'll only take ONE!" Jirobo charged with a battle cry, as he rushed the figure, readying a powerful punch. But the figure moved to the right, as the attack missed, and he pressed a point on Jirobos neck. Seconds later, he collapsed to the ground, not a sound made. "No respect."

Kidomaru was surprised, but nonetheless smirked. "Guys weakest anyway. I'll take care of you!" He got out several of those golden boomerang whatever's and launched them at the figure. But it nearly waved its staff, and deflected every single one of them with shocking speed. "But how?!" The figure then speeded up to him, pressed his stomach for a second. Then Kidomaru went down as well. "No sportsmanship."

Sakon was getting worked up. "Finally! Something I can sink my teeth into! Let's get him!" He rushed the figure with amazing speed, and launched a seemingly inseeable punch to the face. The figure, however, blocked it with a simple palm, leaving the brothers baffled. "Try again!" He then launched a flurry of punches and kicks, as the figure dodged every single one of them. Sakon got frustrated, and readied a second barrage. But the cloaked warrior used his staff to press a point on his chest. Then, Sakon too went down. "No compassion."

Tayuya was dumfounded. This whatever this guy is just took out her entire team without breaking a sweat. But she refused to be next. " Damn you! How do you plan to counter this, you trash!?" She began to play her flute. "Demon Flute-" The warrior then rushed to press a point on her forehead, making her freeze. Then, she dropped her flute, and she too, fell to the ground, defeated. "No class. And such a potty mouth. Not fitting for a young lady like yourself."

The cloaked warrior then made his way to Naruto and Sasuke, who were injured but conscious to see what happened. " Woah..." Sasuke had the same type of reaction. "How...did you do that?"

"Years of training...and a little luck. Hehehe!" The cloaked one then helped them up. "You boys wish to travel to China, correct?" The boys were baffled when he figured them out. But nodded anyway. "Good, because that's where I originate. You two are free to accompany me on the way back." The two didn't know whether to trust him or not. Counting the fact that he just saved their lives. But nonetheless, accepted the offer. What choice do they have?

"Very well. Reorganize all of your things, and follow me." The figure then walked out of the Land of Whirlpool, albeit slowly. He took out the Sound Ninja Four in a flash, and now he moves slow as hell? That didn't fit. But they didn't worry about it for the time being. What mattered was that they were safe.

* * *

They boarded the next boat to China as soon as they could. Luckily their money was enough to pay for three tickets. They were also warned, that China was just as dangerous as their ninja lands. But somehow still values mercy more than them. That sounded troublesome, but again, that's a bridge they cross when they get to it.

"Well, that settles that! A private boat that'll go all the way to China! What luck!" Naruto said as he bounced in his seat in excitement. Sauske nodded, while smirking at Naruto's enthusiasm. But another question was to be asked.

"Who are you? Why would you help a couple of exiles like us?" The figure nodded his head, then spoke. "Exiles or not, I hardly believe that is a suitable punishment for young ones just trying to survive. But I guess the universe can't always be picking favorites, only those with destiny."

Sasuke was somewhat confused by this. Yet still wanted the other answer. "And who are you?" The figure nodded again, and removed the hood that covered him that entire time. Sasuke was in a state of shock, as well Naruto, who stopped bouncing. "Woah...he's a turtle. A turtle...who can kick ass! I'm so gotta learn how to do that! Say, what do they call you, Turtle Sage?"

It was true, he was quite old. But by no means fragile. "Ah yes...my name. In my country, I am known by many names. But you can just call me...Oogway."

* * *

**Unknown Place in China...**

"GET BACK HERE, YOU TUBBY PIECE OF GARBAGE!" A very raged out buffalo shouted, as he and four buddies were chasing down a thief that took their food...taken from a poor rabbit family. Who's the thief then?

The figure ran through multiple twists and turns, until he finally came to a dead end next to two houses. The buffalo bandits surrounded them. "You're surrounded, Panda! Give yourself up, and return our stuff, then we might consider not beating you to dirt!"

The panda wore pants looking like they were sewn together, and had a black and white scarf around his neck, along with a green tunic that surprisingly fits him. The panda turned around, with the sack of food on his back, smirking. His Jade green eyes sparkled with mischeif.

"The names Po. You wanna take food that belongs to the poor, you gotta deal with me , too!"

* * *

**Ending it here. I'll cut back a few hours to show how exactly Po got in that ****situation, and where he is. You probably already guessed already, though. **

**Review, please? It helps me quite an amount, and is appreciated.**


	3. Po and Tigress, Itachi Moves Out!

**It is crazy but amazing at how many have favorited and follow this story over the course of three days. Now all I need is some reviews and that will really make me happy! I thank all who have taken the time to do the mentioned things. **

**Let's begin!**

* * *

There are a lot of things you probably already know about Po. He's that lovable panda who lives with his foster father Mr. Ping. The goose was also lovable, in a way. Yet the story about him is slightly altered...nah, origin story is for another time. Let's be simple and start with one of his regular days.

The big guy was asleep in his hammock, sleeping peacefully. Yet he was snoring up a storm. Heh, you should see his dad. Luckily he was already wide awake, cooking up his famous noodles that no one can get enough of. He was currently chopping up the vegetables.

Word of advice...never upset him when he has a knife in his hand...it gets ugly really fast. Unless he's in a good mood, in which he almost always is. "Po! Wake up, son!"

The panda groaned, as he yawned and stretched his huge arms out. "Alrighty big guy...time to get up. You don't wanna be scolded for oversleeping...again." He hopped out, and checked his room. Completely neat, save the occasional cookie crumbs. Po learned that staying tidy was key to not losing any of your things. There was his hammock, his book shelf, a small window, and his clothes rack holding his green tunic and black and white scarf. He never goes outside without it. The tunic is by choice. He reached for his scarf, wrapped it around his neck, and went downstairs.

"Hiya Dad! Cooking early today? You know not a lot of people come here for another few hours."

"An early bird gets the noodle, Po! Haha! See what I did there?" Po chuckled along with him, their sense of humor kind of alike. He didn't look at Po though, he was focused on chopping the vegatables. He'd rather keep his wings, thank you very much! Po understood perfectly.

"Alright then. Anything you need from me? Need any help?" Po was always willing to help his father whenever possible. "No no, that's quite alright Po. You go off and have fun outside, I'll call you back when the lunch rush comes. Go on and meet your " friend". Hmhmhmhm!" Po blushed. "Dad...please don't squeal. Or...qwack. I want this to stay a secret." The goose then laughed silently, still quite amused. He simply waved the panda off, indicating that he stopped teasing.

Po rolled his eyes, and walked out, leaving his father to his business. He walked outside, where numerous other villagers scurried about their business. But they couldn't help but say hello to him. He smiled as he passed by them. He had an appointment to keep.

After a long while of walking through the village, he then made his way into the Bamboo Forest. He liked coming out here, it was peaceful, and there was silence perfect for meditation. There was also a gentle stream of water flowing right into a glistling pond, he always found it quite shiny. He thought it made his reflection look awesome.

After a few more minutes of walking, he eventually reached a pretty barren place. A place filled with trees...made of iron. Yeah, ironwood trees. Po's heard of them before, how people chop them up was way beyond him. He found that many of them looked like they've been pounded into...repeatedly. Its like someone's been training on these things, with pure fists. The indentations were clearly giving a tiger like feel from them...

_Grrrrr... _

Po whipped around, searching for the source of the noise. The bamboo still covered most of the area, making it near impossible for him to find the source of the noise. But then, he closed his eyes, and reopened them, only now they were slitted. He looked around in a full circle, then finally looked in one direction. _There! _He was about to move out of the way, too late. _UGH! _Looks like whatever was out there already tackled him head on. The two figures rolled in a tight ball for a short tumble, as they ran over numerous bushes and plants. Finally, the attacker landed on top of him, pinning him down by the arms. It continued to snarl at him, as he still had a knowing look on his face.

"Tigeress, I know its you."

The figure's shadow disappeared, as it revealed the face of a disappointed frown of a female tiger with golden eyes. She wore a red tunic and black pants...and a bracelet on her left wrist. It somewhat glowed a ruby like color, looking like a heart of some sort. She almost never left without it. "Dang it, Po! I thought for sure that I would scare you." Po stifled a laugh. "You're still glad to see me, aren't you?" Tigeress' disappointed look vanished, replaced by a smile, and a small inaudible purr. "I am." She then pressed her head against his chest, hearing his heart. Warm as ever. He hugged her to his belly, enjoying the embrace.

You're probably wondering: "Tigress shouldn't be so soft!" She's only soft towards four people in her life so far. But let's focus on the first two...with a flashback.

_**20 years ago...**_

Po was a 6 year old panda cub in one rainy night. Here he was walking, with his father Mr. Ping, who at the time, his hair wasn't very white like it is now. They both carried boxes of radishes that the children of the Bao Gu Orphanage. They donated any food they were willing to give weekly. Radishes were just one of them.

"Dad, you think the other orphans will appreciate us doing this?" The cub asked curiously. "Of course they will Po. Why wouldn't they?" "Because some of those kids are nothing but big meanies! Always looking for a reason to make fun of me!"

The goose sighed. He found it apparent that Po has indeed gotten in small altercations with the orphans before. But Po's big heart told him that he's better than that, and always moved along with his business. That didn't mean it didn't hurt him though. There were multiple times Po was merely trying to play with some of the children, but they made fun of him, picked on him, even took the lunch he brings when he hangs out there. When Mr. Ping confronted the caretakers about this, they made sure the children were disciplined. Until they managed to still bother him when they aren't looking. There are even times when they shunned him completely, denying his existence.

All because he was a panda. To him, no blade, not even the Legendary Sword of Heroes, can cause a cut that deep. This was discrimination. They weren't like the orphans, yet the caretakers never took his side unless Mr. Ping outraged about it, because Po tells him almost everything. He almost stopped coming there completely and let his father do the donating. Until one particular visit, this current visit, things changed.

They walked towards the doors, entering the building silently. Mr. Ping did his business with the caretakers, and told Po to go play with the other children. Since Po knew they would just ignore him like they recently started doing, he didn't even try this time. He just sat down at one of the small tables, and sat in a chair, mumbling on about how mean these children could get. He never truly blamed them, though. All they had were caretakers, not parents that can teach you right from wrong.

He suddenly felt something hit him in the back of the head, as he yelped in surprise and slight pain. One of those ox kids just threw a ball right at his head, saying it was an "accident". The snickering from his comrades didn't make it look like he was sorry. " Very funny." He grumbled. That's it. Now they were purposely throwing things at him, then denied it because he didn't see them. He was just going to get up, and leave right this se- _What's with that dark hallway? _

Having a cubs mind also meant that curiosity gets piqued a lot. Also means a short attention span for some. And Po had a right to have it this time. He ignored the sound of everything else for the moment, and focused on exploring this dark hallway. He looked at his surroundings very carefully. There was tons of dirt and dust everywhere he looked, giving him the sign that this hallway hasn't been cleaned to quite a while. It hardly seemed like anyone's even _been _down here for who knows how long. He eventually reached the end of the hallway. He looked to his left, only to see a metal door. That was strange, because all of the other doors here were normal wood. Why would they need metal for this one door? He could only look up, as something was barely legible. It said "Here Lies The Monster" Po should have been afraid, but that only fueled his curiosity more. So, without even thinking about it, he moved to open the door.

The other kids eventually caught on to what he was doing. Po heard whispers go down the hallway; _Is the fat kid crazy?! That's the monster's room! No one ever goes in there! He'll get eaten alive! So what? Not like anyone cares. Yeah, but still, even the caretakers are super afraid of what's in there. Yet he's just going right up there to open it! He isn't scared at all! _

Po ignored the voices, every single one of them. He only focused on making this door open. He eventually got it to slide to the side, and he slowly entered. It was even darker in here than it was out there. No sign of light anywhere except from the door he's opened. He inspected the room a little more. There was a futon, at least. A futon, a very small window, and probably more, if he could see better. He concluded that someone was definitely in here. When Po looked at the walls, something really caught his attention. There were claw markings, and quite the amount of them too. They were on every single one of those walls, and they looked like furious claw swipes. His dad told him that he was struck by claws once. It hurt a lot. Po took another look around. These markings looked like they belonged to something angry. Something scary. Something strong. _Like this room was meant to hold a wild animal...this isn't a regular room...this is a cage._

"Stop right there. Don't you move." He froze. He knew something had to be in this room, he could hear the breathing. He turned around one time, and sees a pair of golden eyes glaring right at him. "What are you doing here?" "I heard there was a monster in here, I wanted to see what they meant." Po answered honestly. He heard growling, as he heard whatever was in there approach him. "Well...they were right. There is a monster in here..." The figure eventually reached the light, and revealed a small tiger cub in a tiny red tunic and black pants. Guessing she was trying to sound _and _look menacing. "The monster you heard about...is me." Po stared at her for a couple of minutes, still no fear on his face. He then started to laugh like the small cub he is.

"What's so funny?!" Po calmed down, and smiled. "Those kids are crazy. You're not a monster, you're a girl." She suddenly stopped growling. That...was not expected. "A...girl? Not a monster?" "Why would you be a monster? You look completely normal to me." Confused, the girl stood on her two feet, and circled Po while inspecting him. "Didn't you see how dark my room was?" "I thought they forgot to put a light in here." "What about the claw marks?" "Bad decorating?" " What about my growling?" "I admit I kinda invaded your personal space, its a normal reaction. At least...my dad says so."

She was now confused. Most children ran at the sight of her. But he's been here an entire minute and hasn't moved a muscle away from her, only towards her. "You're...not afraid of me?" "I honestly don't see why I should be." To illustrate her point, she grabbed a wooden block in her room, held it to Po, and crushed it with little effort. He stared for a few minutes, then frowned. "Man! I wish I were that strong!" Confusion increase. "That didn't scare you?" "You expect me to be afraid of you crushing a block? That just means you're strong. Why would that make you a monster?" Now she was wondering how this panda thinks. But something told her to be hopeful. Yet she also doubted something about this. "The other children say i'm a monster because of my strength, fangs, and claws. Yet you just stand there, still talking to me." "Those children are crazy. They made fun of me just for tripping over my own feet, because of all of this." He patted his belly as an indication. "See? Times I can't see my own feet, why else would I be so clumsy?"

"Well..I guess-" "Time out!" Po shouted, startling the girl. "W-what?!" "My dad always tells me to be polite to girls, that includes introducing yourself. My name is Po! What's yours?" She was surprised at the swift change he made in the conversation, though he probably didn't notice like she did. "Tigress..." Po smiled. "See? Knowing each others names is one step to having friends." Hold on..."You...friend?" Tigress asked unsurely. No one ever wanted to be her friend before. Why is he so different? "Of course! Sad thing is...I don't have any friends either. So this is great! We can be each others very first friend!" For a few moments, Tigress' heart flickered, and she smiled. "Really?! A friend?! I can't believe it!" Tigeress and Po hopped with joy as they held each others paws happily. They eventually stopped hopping, and just looked at each other. Tigeress then frowned again.

"What do we do now?" Po honestly did not know, he was so focused on getting her to be his friends him. And she must not even know what friends do together, as all she did was hope for one. He let go of her paws, and rubbed his forehead. "I dunno...wanna play tag?" "Tag?" Wow, she really needs help with this. "Well...er...you just touch a person like this,(puts paw on her arm) and they are " it". And that person has to chase the other one until they catch them, then they are it." Po ran to the other side of the room, laughing. Tigeress watched him, still confused. "C'mon Tigress! You gotta catch me!" Tigeress eventually got the point, and smirked. She retracted her claws so she wouldn't hurt him, and went down on all fours. Her tail swished, as her eyes focused on her playful eyes on her prey. "If you insist..." She pounced at him, as he ran to the side, making her miss. "You can't dodge me forever!" She stated while laughing. They played like this for a couple of hours.

They both panted, as they looked up at each other. "That was fun!" Tigeress said. But then she frowned again. "But you probably have to leave soon.." Po yawned, as they were both pretty warn out. He came up with an idea though. He walked over to her futon, and lied on his back, looking right at her. "C'mon." She did not seem to understand. But she walked over anyway. "What is it?" "You're tired right? You can lie down." "But...you're on my bed." "No, silly! You sleep on _me." _She widened her eyes after he stated this idea. His smile grew wider. " What? Don't tell me you'd rather sleep on that hard thing than this. (Pats belly as it jiggles) C'mon...you know you want to..." She was still unsure about this. When it became clear that he won't move, she sighed and moved towards him. She reached her paw out, and patted his belly once. She then eased her way onto him carefully, looking at him every several seconds. He smiled still, as if saying "take your time." On his approval, she proceeded to completely lie down on him, curling up, put her head on his chest, and let her tail rest on the floor.

"So? How about it?" She didn't really hear him say this, as she rubbed her head in his neck, purring out the words; "So soft...so fluffy...like a cloud...a small poofy cloud..." He took that as a complement, as it was kinda true. He heard her fall asleep, and at that note, fell asleep as well.

The caretakers and Mr. Ping finally caught wind of Po not being there, and looked everywhere for him. They finally concluded that he was in Tigeresses room. They got extremely worried, as they slowly opened the already ajar door. When they looked inside, they all jawdropped at the sight before them. One of them even said: "I don't believe it..."

Very few people managed to even get close to Tigeress, fearing getting injured. But here they saw, the panda child has gotten her to sleep in a ball like form, right on his belly. They even heard her purr softly, as the panda snored quietly. Mr. Ping was surprised, Po was usually a very loud snorer, and hear he was, as silent as a...mantis. He knew what this meant, and smiled gently. " Let them sleep. I'll stay a while longer." Still baffled a bit, they all agreed, silently closing the metal door. Mr. Ping was happy for them. They found a new bond.

* * *

"Yeah...that was one of the greatest days of my life. Totally glad to have experience it." Po said. They spend most of the day remembering those days when they were just cubs. Their meeting was just one of them. "So anyway..."

"Hold on Po, I hear something." Tigeress got off Po, and followed her hearing to a patch of grassland in the bamboo forest. A group of buffalos had a sack of goods that clearly didn't belong to them. "Huh...bandits...I'll be right back Po. Need to beat some sense into these thugs."

"Hold on! I can help out!" Tigeress looked at him curiously, as he smiled. "Ambush tactic." He whispered, as he snuck into the shadows of the tall bamboo, hiding him from view. The banditsnwere literally just laughing there heads off at how easy their steal was. That's when Po snuck behind them, and stole the sack right from their hooves.

"Hey! That's our sack! We stole it fair and square!"

"Mine now, suckers!" Po shouted while running away laughing. They followed him through the forest, keeping their sights on the panda and the goods. Tigeress stayed in the shadows, mumbling about how Po didn't tell her about the ambush tactic.

Po ran corners around the numerous bamboos, and then found himself cornered at a nearby boulder. The bandits eventually caught up with him. "You're surrounded panda! Hand over the sack and we'll consider not completely beating you into the dirt!"

"The names Po! And you wanna steal from the poor, you'll have to deal with me! Unless...you wanna deal with her instead?" The bandits looked up, and shivered in fear. "Master T-Tigeress?!" She stood on top of the boulder, one paw on her hip. She then looked at Po with a serious look. "What do I do to guys who steal from the poor?" "You pound _them _into dirt, and then throw them in prison?" "Very good, Po." She then pounced on them, as they couldn't really move from the fear. You can hear the sounds of them shouting in pain, and Po cheering Tigeress on.

Yep. Pretty normal day for Po and Tigress.

* * *

_**Akatsuki hideout...or whats left of it...**_

There is hardly a time when Itachi Uchiha totally loses his cool and destroys everything in his way. Because he's always kept his cool because he's professional.

These are one of the times where he completely loses his mind. Well...not completely, just really quiet-like. He destroyed his own hideout and easily defeated Kakuzu, Hidan, and Deidara without hesitation. That's what they get for getting in his way.

He's caught wind from Zetsu that his brother Sasuke has been banished, and he was calm for a few moments. He then trashed his hideout. After that, he discarded his Akatsuki wardrobe and slipped back into his old ANBU uniform, and just...ran off. He was determined to find councilman Danzo...and give him a piece of his mind. But first, answers.

_Sasuke...what did you do...? _

* * *

**_That was a longer flashback than even I expected. Sorry if you didn't like it. What is Itachi intent on? Hm? _**

**_Review please? _**


	4. Arrival, Mishap, and Some Frustration

_**Another chapter down! You'll see just a fragment of what a certain someone had to deal with. Its...pretty frustrating.**_

_**Let's begin !**_

* * *

Silence. Silent the Uchiha was as he rushed across the forests. His sword kept behind his back, his clothes rustled with the night winds, his Sharingan piercing through the night. He was sure that the other Akatsuki members hasn't caught wind of his betrayal yet. But they will soon. Even if they do, he's long gone by now.

Itachi even took the time to remove the Akatsuki ring. It doesn't just signify membership, its also like a tracking beacon, this is how they stay in that away, make sure Zetsu isn't on your tail...and you basically vanished in thin air. Itachi thought about this scenario, but never actually expected it to happen.

Seriously, other than putting him in a short-term coma, Sasuke was perfectly fine. Besides...the revenge thing of course. A week later, the boy hit the road overnight. It was clear that Naruto was with him as well. Itachi didn't know whether to be relieved that Sasuke at least had company, or even more panicked. They were both out in the open, easy for capture. Forget that, maybe even killed.

_What were those idiots thinking?! _

He could not figure it out. He needed answers. He also needed to make this a silent infiltration. Pretty sure no one wants to wake up in the middle of the night to see that a rogue ninja just waltzes in to talk to a member of the Leaf Council. But that was too bad...for Danzo. If Itachi finds out that he had something to do with this...it was on. But...Naruto is a potential issue too. He's unprotected. Both of them are.

He reached the village gates, looking up at them. He passed by them just mere days ago, to check up on Sasuke. The Third dying from the Sound invasion left him extremely worried for his safety. He was surprised that Naruto brought back one of the Sannin to be the Fifth. But that also worried him. Did she let this happen? Or...it wasn't a choice? Back to the Danzo theory. He has something to do with this. Itachi scanned the area, then dashed right through the village, sure that no one would see him. The unfavorable thing was to get caught, the last thing he wanted to do was get into a fight.

Jumping across the rooftops silently, and always made sure to scan the area every few seconds. He had to be sure that no one saw him, or tried to follow him, as his Sharingan tried to see if anyone was attempting a stealth recon. He saw nothing so far. He looked past the Hokage Mansion, knowing Danzo was in there...he hoped. He passed right by it, and traveled all the way to his estate. Or just a private little house. No one really cares where he lives, most don't even like him. But as the founder of ROOT...there was no telling what he'll do if Itachi just busts in on his house...so he'll do it anyway.

He literally just busted down his door. "Danzo!"

The man had half his face covered in bandages, including his left arm. His eye is usually closed for some reason. The arm also had some sort of chain seal on it, so nobody know what's under them. The Councilman had a lamp on, reading a book. " I see you have forgotten some of your manners, Itachi." He didn't even look up to face him. "You can at least knock before breaking down my door."

"Do you know anything about Naruto and Sasuke's banishment?" Itachi asked impatiently. "Don't lie to me either, because I'll know." Danzo closed his book, shaking his head. He grabbed his cane and stood up. "You used to be calmer than this. Does he really mean that much to you?" "Don't stall. Answer me." Danzo realized that he really was asking him this. So he decided to just humor him by providing him answers.

"Very well. Let's start from the beginning. You see, the boys were merely coming back from a sincere training session. However, they ran into some ninja who were merely reminding Naruto of what he truly is. Nothing more than a mere weapon for the Leaf's benefit. Outraged, they both killed them all, and were taken into custody. We decided not to execute them, instead confining them to banishment. Forever."

Itachi knew on the spot that he was leaving something out. So he pressed on. "What are you not telling me, Danzō? I can tell you're not telling me everything." Danzo walked over to the window, looking out of it. He seemed to be thinking about how to proceed. So he decided to let off on the strategy for a moment. "Let me tell you this: According to Tsunade's autospy, those seven ninja were all recruits from Root. They must have gone for a little roughhousing, on Naruto."

"Thats añother thing, Danzo. Why would you send him out of the village as well? Don't you know the Akatsuki could get to him?" "Last time I checked Itachi, you _are _Akatsuki, are you not?" This threw Itachi off a bit. It was clear that Danzo was ready for this conversation. "Not anymore. The instant I heard the news, I've come to the conclusion that you've went too far. You sent him out there with Naruto by their lonesomes? We had an agreement, Danzo." The man turned back to Itachi. "I believe it was not to harm the boy. As you could see, I haven't even touched Sasuke, he acted out of line, and he paid the price for it."

Itachi flinched. It was a little bit of logic, a law was broken, someone had to be punished. It was simple rules of a village. Sasuke had to go and defend Naruto from Root recruits...wait a minute...weapon of Naruto...law broken...Sasuke defensive..Root...ROOT...ROOT!

" You set them up." Itachi quietly snarled. It all made sense now. Danzo was too calm when he was saying all of this. Mentioning ROOT...Naruto's small rampage...Sasuke's involvement..."You set them up, didn't you? You sent ROOT agents pretending to be rogue ninja, not expecting them to die, but used it to your favor. Naruto was getting too comfortable and Sasuke is becoming a threat to you. You found a way to get rid of both of them while seemingly keeping yourself out of the picture until the Council came to a vote. You expected execution for Sasuke, but Tsunade pleaded banishment, since that was your final offer. In other words...you went behind my back."

Danzo stayed silent for a while. He calmly listened to Itachi's accusation, completely letting him finish. He then began to spoke again. "Interesting accusation, Itachi. But there's plenty of problems with it. Starting with: Who's going believe you? Whether you wear the robes or not, Akatsuki is still Akatsuki. Who will ever listen to a traitor like you? You have no advantage over me now." Danzo leaned in to Itachi's face. "Word does not get out about this. If you even think about leaking important information, or try to kill me right this moment...I will send ROOT agents to Sasuke's current location...and have him executed. Only they know his location, not I. And no one will ever know. I know you're good at keeping secrets, so surely you can keep this one. No one knows of this conspiracy, for Sasuke's sake. Don't you agree?"

Itachi cursed himself. There were Anbu agents around the house, and they won't let him leave if he harms Danzo. Something tells him that Danzo is planning something far bigger than this, but he had no time to try to figure it out. His Mangekyo glowed red as he stared at Danzo. " Have caution, Danzo. I may be a pacifist, but after your little scheme...I'm starting to make exceptions...be even more cautious if Sasuke ever finds out about this...because even I won't be able to prevent what he does to you."

And with a gust of wind, Itachi was gone.

* * *

Sasuke opened his eyes, right that moment. Somehow, he knew someone was talking about him, and he had a strange feeling that it was someone he knows . But there was no time for that. He sat up, looking around the boat. If they were still in the water, that means that China is a different world...or very far away. Probably both.

Naruto was still asleep, lying down on a futon like Sasuke was. He didn't realize they traveled quite the distance, or that his friend was safe. "Naruto. Wake up."

He stirred a bit, before finally opening his eyes to see the morning. "Gah...are we there yet?" "Probably, but I can't be very sure." Sighing, the boy got up, stretching his arms. He looked around, to see that the entire ship was covered in a thick fog, keeping him from seeing very far. "Woah...I think we might have a little problem here." He fully stood up, and walked across the ship. They should talk to Oogway, see if they're any closer to China. When they approached the hull, they saw his staff, but not Oogway himself. All they saw was a shell right on top of it. Now where did he-

"Awakened, young ones?" Naruto jumped, and looked for the source of the voice. "Right here, Naruto." He watched the shell move, hands and feet sliding out, as he touched the ground, and took hold of the staff. Oogway took a long look at the both of them. Naruto was pretty unsure of what to say. How can he not tip over while on top of such a skinny staff? It looked ages old as well. _That is some serious balance..._

Naruto almost forgot why he was standing there. Why was he there again? Oh right! "Oogway, are we getting any closer to China?" The turtle was quiet for a bit. He seemed to be in deep thought about the boys in front of him. He was glad that he got there when he did, or who knows what would have happened. Of course he didn't forget the question that was asked of them, he wanted to see if they would react to the silence. No one said a word. Good. "As a matter of fact, we are just about here." As soon as he turned around, the fog was gone, and they saw a clear patch of grasslands on the rise. There were also numerous mountains seen in the distance, and plenty of bamboo. And that was just what they can currently see.

"Woah...this isn't even all of it...that's crazy..." Naruto was clearly mesmorized by the new mystery to him that is China. Sasuke only shrugged his shoulders. "Meh." Oogway looked down to him, still smiling. "I can tell that you are not an easy person to impress, Sasuke. But that is fine. Whatever interests you, you just tell me." The turtle walked by, as Sasuke was stunned for a moment. "How do you know my name?" "Why, I heard you two chatting, of course. How can I not know your names after that?" The boy only sighed at appearing so gullible.

Naruto hopped off the ship, and onto the ground. The other two simply walked off on the set of deployable stairs. Naruto got a different view at groung level. He saw that plant life here was very plentiful here. It may have been small, but clearly they mastered farming years before they could. The mountains, niw seen from below, have penetrated the clouds above. That shows just how big the thing is. Naruto's sure he's climbed higher mountains than that. But...these mountains...you could put multiple villages that aren't bigger than his own, and still have enough room for other things. Very spacy.

"Its so big...where are we gonna go first?!" Naruto hopped with interest. "There's multiple places we could go, such as...uh...such as...wait, where are we going?" Oogway walked forward, prompting the boys to follow him. They took more sight seeing in account as they walked along the path. The grasslands slowly receded as they progressed. This doesn't seem to be a road that folks take often, as they haven't seen anybody for thirty minutes. Save the occasional smile and wave from the creatures passing by. Once, a family of rabbits came walking across them, and awed at seeing the two boys traveling with Oogway. The attention was not unpleasant, just confusing.

"Have these folks ever seen a human before? It looks like they have." Sasuke asked. Oogway acknowledged him without looking at him. "Yes indeed, humans have heard of China before. But the chances of them actually coming over here were extremely rare." "So that would make the two of us the first ones in China for a long time." "You are correct. I do recall chatting with one once, yet its been such a long time. Smart as I am, even I cannot remember every single detail. Not all by my lonesome. I am just an old turtle, after all!"

Naruto wasn't sure if he could understand how open Oogway has been with the both of them. Must be a new visitor kind of thing. He got a feeling that the turtle does what he can to try and point people in the right direction. Good for him. There seems to be a mystical kind of feeling coming off from the turtle. Like he knew very close to everything. But he even admitted that not everything came to him at first glance. He considers himself, despite his status, an ordinary person like everyone else.

_**Naruto? Naruto?**_The boy suddenly felt utter distaste, and blocked out the noise. _**Don't pretend you don't hear me. You wouldn't have reacted you didn't hear me at all. Come on, boy.** _Naruto still refused to answer the fox. He was still very much upset at him. **_Fine. Don't talk to me, just listen. I was only asleep for a mere day. How did you end up with the Great Master Oogway? _**

_Why, I saved his life, of course. _Naruto and Kurama were both incredibly stunned by what just happened. Oogway was talking to them...without even opening his mouth. _**You...can hear me?**__Why of course, Kurama. Why do you think I spent a lot of time with numerous spirits? Now, I do believe you and Naruto have come to a standstill. **At least you understand. I'm trying to talk to him, yet he refuses to acknowledge my attempts to reduce the hostility. Which says a lot because I really like hostility. **Then do not try anymore, Kurama. **What?! **If the boy chooses not to speak, as your container, you have to respect his wishes. Do not force the boy anymore than you already have, Kurama. Let him come to his own senses, then you can speak with him with no harmful atmosphere present. Does that seem fair? _

Outgunned by Oogways helpful but stressing advice, Kurama chose to stand down for now. He lied back down in his cage, now feeling the affects of Naruto's emotions bit by bit. Anger, sadness, regret...its no wonder Oogway calmly told him to back off for a while. Naruto was truly not angry. He was conflicted. Because things were actually going his way, someone decided to mess with his progress and knock him back down to demon fox loser. He tried to tell everyone thousands of times. He is not a demon. The demon is inside him, he isn't him. But...maybe Kurama isn't as much of a demon as profile says he is. Because he actually feels guilty. He's not as unfeeling as he is described to be.

Sasuke again somehow sensed conflicted feelings between Naruto and the Nine-Tails. But somehow...this time Oogway managed to come in between the conversation. Just what can Oogway do, really? Even his Sharingan cannot properly read Oogway. He truly was a mysterious yet very open entity. He's an open book, yet almost impossible to read. This makes it one of the ultimate disguises yet. He was dangerous. Gentle soul, Sasuke gave him that. But dangerous. At least...to the bad guys. This is an issue to come to at a later time, because he hears something along the road.

"What was that?" Naruto said. Oogway heard the noise, and turned towards it. "Must be the usual bandits in the forest, I suppose. We have them all the time, unfortunately. Allow me to go deal with them."

"Hold on, Oogway! Let us go deal with it! It should be easy for the two of us, right Sasuke?" The Uchiha wasn't as sure or nearly as excited as Naruto was. In fact, he wasn't really up for this. "I don't know, Naruto. It might not be such a good idea to interfere with issues that we aren't familiar with just as we set foot in another country. Maybe we should just-" Naruto didn't really listen. Right when Sasuke said "I don't know" he just jumped off into the trees, speeding ahead. Sasuke sighed, and rubbed his forehead. "Idiot..." But he just followed him anyway. Oogway was worried for only the moment. He chose not to interfere, but followed the two boys as well.

Naruto hopped through the bamboo forest, sort of looking forward to this. He needed to let off a little steam. Sasuke immediately appeared by his side, jumping alongside him. "Finally decided to show up, huh Sasuke?" "You moron! Even outside of our home you're still prone to being reckless. We don't know what we're dealing with yet! I read that their fighting style is centuries older than the ways of ninjas. We cannot underestimate ANYTHING that we come across." "So...you're saying that we are still going?" Sasuke groaned heavily at his friends ignorance. "Alright, fine! We'll be careful. I won't just jump into a fight unless we're both sure." The Uchiha knew straight up that he was bluffing a little, but just kept moving.

Naruto eventually approached the source of the noise. It looked like a gang of wolves._ No surprise there... _They were wearing plenty of different armors. They also had some swords, knives, and some sort of chain hammer. All of them have that one. _Don't wanna get hit by those... _Naruto looked down to the ground, and saw yet another wolf. He looked battered and beaten. Yet he found himself able to hold himself up with one arm, as the other one was bleeding quite a bit. Naruto then realized something. That wolf didn't even look as old as the others. He's closer to his age than any of them. 14, 15 years at best. But...why?

"Alright pup...we're giving you one last chance to hand over what you stole from us." The apparent leader was the one with the mask, and blinded in one of his eyes. The other wolves seem to be his pack. The younger wolf seemed only to growl at their request. In retaliation, the leader kicked the wolf in the side, making him fall over. "Stop resisting, pup! Where are our artifacts?!" The young one didn't whine, he only stared at the ground. "Fine, be that way. We can just beat the answer out of you." One wolf began to swing his hammer around, looking to aim right at the teenage wolf's head. As he was about to swing, something rushed him from the side, knocking him over.

Naruto landed on his feet, right next to tje injured wolf, who looked at him in surprise. "Hey! You guys find it funny to pick on your own kind?!" The leader stared back at Naruto. "Have respect, human! You have no idea what you're dealing with!" "Oh, I know I don't know. I just don't give a crap about it. What's your name anyway?" "Names Heilang, current leader of the Lin Kuei. Don't have concern about your name. You just interrupted important buisness. Surround him." The wolves came around the boys, as Naruto stayed over the young wolf.

Two of them came at him with swords. He brought out a kunai, and deflected both sword strikes as quick as he could. They went to slash at his chest, and he jumped back. He backflipped a couple of steps, as one of the other wolves readied a hammer at him. He saw this coming and kicked him in the face while landing on the ground.

The other members grew restless, as Heilang examined him. _He's a ninja? Interesting... _One of the others grabbed their blades and charged at him. He saw the first one slice at him, and he jumped over the slash. The other one simply hopped over his buddy and punched the boy in the face. He flew backward, but still managed to land on his feet. He got back up, only for another member to kick him in the back.

Naruto recovered and slid across the ground, holding himself up. "They sure know how to work together...I gotta even the odds." _Shadow Clone Jutsu! _At his command, five clones came into existence, and faced down each member. None of them were completely surprised though. They simply charged at their opponents. He focused on completely punching the daylights out of one of them. One clone kicked one in the head. Another one punched one in the stomach. Two of them did a spin attack that knocked down two of them at once.

Naruto took on Heilang on himself, as he aimed to kick at his head. The wolf grabbed his foot right before it made contact, and swung him against the ground, being smashed by his face. He then kicked his stomach as he rolled over and flipped back on his feet. The boy began to punch him in the face once, and the wolf staggered back a little bit. He then clasped his hands together, and struck Heilang in the face again. He backed up, the boy has struck him in the other eye.

Meanwhile, the clones were facing down the other wolves, as they were being picked off one by one. A single blow from each of them knocked the clones out of existence. One was slashed in the back, another was kicked in the back, one was hammered by a hammer to the face, one was clawed in the head, and the last clone got his neck bitten out. Meanwhile, Naruto punched down Heilang again, as the wolf retailiated with one of his own. They both skidded plenty of feet backwards.

"Ha! I have you outmatched!" Heilang smirked. "Oh...do you now?" The members surrounded him with their spinning chain hammers, grinning through their teeth. "Ah...crud..." The first hammer, struck his leg, and he felt searing pain as he fell to the ground. The second hammer hit his arm, as now he couldn't hold himself up. The third hammer went to smack him into the ground, yet he forced himself to jump upwards to avoid it. The fourth hammer struck him in the back while in midair, making him grunt from the evergrowing pain. Heilang's hammer flew right at him as he fell, then pounded right into his chest. Now in complete agony at the coordinated assault, Naruto fell to the ground, unable to move.

Heilang scoffed at the boy, as the group surrounded his body. "What a foolish child, trying to attack us all by his lonesome-" He was interrupted by a blast of fire striking at the middle of the group, making them all jump back. "Now what?!" Sasuke entered the fray, using the fire as a cover-up. He went over to Naruto and eased him over his shoulder. "Damn it, Naruto! I told you not to just pop into situatons we have no information about! (Looks at wolf) You're coming with us!" Sasuke grabbed a smoke bomb and threw it to the ground. He and the wolf then ran off into the forest while the pack was temporarily immobilized.

"Excuse me, but I cannot thank you enough for helping me out of that situation."

"Save it, what's your name?" "Jhong, my name is Jhong. I didn't wish for your friend to get hurt because of me." "Like I said, save it. Where can I get him help?" "Keep running this way! I know a place!" Jhong lead the way on all fours, as Sasuke followed him with Naruto on his back. This...did not go well.

* * *

_**There's another chapter down! One of my OC's made a comeback, sweet! I hope I'm not doing too badly. **_

_**Review?**_


	5. Meetings

**Right back with yet another chapter! I am shocked at how many favorited and followed this. Even more that the views are getting closer to a thousand in less than one week. I humbly thank you all! It tells me that this story isn't too bad.**

**Ready...begin!**

* * *

The boys were now rushing through the forest. Naruto was on Sasuke's back, the latter was running along, and Jhong kept the lead in front of them. What started off with a simple comforting visit, turned out quite badly. Naruto got jacked up, Sasuke had to go in to help him and the wolf. He seemed stressed.

"Why did he have to be so freaking stupid? I thought I told him not to do...what he just did. He better hope that he's not in a coma... on the first few minutes." Sasuke was quietly grumbling to himself. "If I wasn't here..." Jhong managed to hear pieces of that wording. "Do you...not get along with each other? While unconscious?" "Usually on both fronts...who asked you?"

It was obvious that Sasuke was not one for converse. But Jhong just wanted something to pass the time, since it will be some time before they get to their destination. The young wolf just wanted to chat with a few his age, even if they were humans. He's never seen humans before, so this was a rare thing indeed. But one of them just got seriously injured trying to protect him. He could he feeling guilty, or he can just do what needs to be done, and be through with it.

He does wonder why they were out here all by their lonesome anyway. They helped him out, and don't even know who he was. Guess he should feel guilty. But since Sasuke didn't really seem that mad with him, and Naruto was unconscious, not very suitable for apologizing moments. That, along with the fact that the Lin Kuei could still be very well chasing after all three of them. He indeed had some sort of involvement with them, yet didn't seem very much interested in continuing that involvement.

"What did they want from you anyway?" Sasuke said after a long while."By what we saw, you two don't really seem to be buddies of any sort." Jhong kept his eyes forward as Sasuke asked this. "We do have a history, although I now seem to be somewhat of an insignificant detail until recently. I swiped something that they feel is very important." Sasuke, for the sake of passing time like the mentioned, paid attention for a while. He heard Naruto mumble something inaudible, but dimssed it. "What kind of history?" Jhong knew what he meant. "They know my father. I can't say how or why, because even I don't know." Sasuke chose to cease anymore questions until they got help.

They rushed a few more ways along, until they see somebody in the distance. Oogway was able to find the group heading towards their destination. "Ah...boys! At last, I have found-" He stopped as he saw Naruto hurt, eyes wide. "My goodness! What happened to him?!" He rushed over and looked over Naruto carefully. "It doesn't look like he's that gravely injured...yet I don't think we should take any risks. We should get him back to the Valley immediately. We have plenty of healers there. I do believe that is where you were heading, young one?" Jhong nodded patiently. "Well then, let's continue on."

Oogway lead on this time, informed by Jhong what has transpired. He found it unfortunate that he was slowed so much that he could not prevent this incident. This was their first visit, and now they had to deal with this. He kinda feels like he's messed up bad. By the looks of it, Sasuke did not seem to be antagonistic against him for it. He actually wondered what was going through his mind this moment. He felt it though, the boy was definitely conflicted about something. But a strong wall was formed around Sasuke's aura, with no one but Naruto being able to bypass it. But why? Naruto also seems to have something happening on his mind. Seriously.

_**Mindscape...**_

Naruto's eyes were currently open, as he was laid upwards in water. He did not look like he wanted to move from his current position. He was in front of the cage, where Kurama lied, looking down at him. _**So...here you are...just lying there in the waters of your mind. Must want to speak now, don't you?**_Naruto did not look at him, he just continued to look at the ceiling. He still chose not to speak. There was plenty on his mind, something that even Kurama couldn't see.

_**Come on, boy. You can't seriously still be mad at me, right? You just got your ass beaten by a gang of wolves trained to be deadly assassins. What'd you expect? What I myself wasn't expecting is you not ranting on about it. That's something you usually do.**_Naruto still refused to converse with him. Now he was starting to get frustrated.

_**Alright. Despite what Oogway said, I am tired of you ignoring me! You've been knocked unconscious, therefore you have no other choice but to appear before me. Yet you still refuse to say a word! The silence has grown tiresome! Speak, now!**_Naruto eventually locked eye contact with him, with not much emotion. That spooked him. "That's why." _**What? **_

" You're being forceful, despite being told to wait. I may not be a good listener, but look at you. You don't even care about what I have to say, do you? You just want to drown out a guilty silence like it never happened." _**That's not true-**_"Enough, Nine-Tails. Just leave me be." There was no more for the boy to say. He returned to his silence, looking back at the ceiling. Kurama realized that he was done talking right now. He also realized that he may have rushed things, AND made them worse. His ears drooped, and sighed when a thought came to him. Oogway.

_**I really do despise it when that old bag of bones is right...at the very least, he doesn't rub it in...**_

_Back to reality..._

Once again, Sasuke felt like something was amiss. Naruto's breathing slowed, but wasn't relaxed. He's beginning to wonder what really goes on in his head. There's also the issue of whether or not they've arrived at their destination. One tap from Oogway somewhat gave him an indication. "Here we are." Hearing the turtle speak, he looked up, only to jaw drop. "No way..."

He saw the valley right before his eyes. He was not always keen on knowing every single detail, but he could make it an exception. First of all, this place was big. Not only was the valley was big, it was very colorful. Especially the big mountain right at the end. No matter where you were, you'd always see either the moon or the sun come up. There also seem to be many more animals scurrying around in the village than he's seen already. Jhong walked up next to them. "So...what do you think of the Valley Of Peace?" Sasuke tried not to act too emotional. "Its...big."

Oogway tried not to laugh. "Oh indeed it is. But you should see the Imperial City. It's way larger than this." Sasuke actually sweatdropped at that piece of information. _This is gonna take some adapting...a lot of adapting. Well...no turning back now._

Not hearing his thoughts, they just walked down towards the hill they were on. There is a certain mystic feeling to the place they are walking into. He felt as if he could surely relax a little bit more, now that they've arrived. Yet this still brought some sort of an uneasy feeling to his body. He wasn't sure if he could fully change his way of living, to something entirely different. Especially to such things as strange as this looks. But wait. Weird things happen to him and his friends all the time. He'll just label this as one of the non-life threatening ones. As least...he hopes that its non-life threatening. Oogway seemed pretty sure.

As he walked the streets, tons of various citizens greeted him with waves, greetings and smiles. The feeling was somehow very foreign to him, since not many have ever been this welcoming to him. He's more used to being shunned and forgotten, which was sometimes, yet never on a serious level. Naruto on the other hand...he really didn't want to think about it. Oogway and Jhong eventually stopped where they were, prompting Sasuke to do the same.

"Ah. I was looking for the two of you. But I do not have time for pleasantries at the moment. One of my new friends appears to have been injured on my trip back here. I require your assistance in helping me nurse him back to health."

* * *

Itachi was once again leaping through the trees, thinking about what to do next. Danzo had him in a very compromising situation that he had to think really hard on. He had the gall to actually put his brother out there all alone, just because of a little flash scare. Naruto was almost the exact same kind of problem. He never would have guessed it, but it appears to be so. Danzo was afraid of a tcouple of kids with promising potential, instead of recruitment. Which Itachi was extremely grateful that it didn't happen. He wasn't sure what he would do.

There wasn't time to hate on Danzo, though. There were many more factors in this situation that Itachi had to think about. First of all, the outside. Orochimaru must have caught wind of this by now. This would prove to be an extremely bad time for Sasuke to be out in the open. He did not forget the attempt he made on taking his body and the Sharingan. He must very much be going after the younger brother since he's less experienced and less powerful than himself. It made him sick just thinking about how desparate he was. But there was no way Itachi was just going to let that happen. Some way or another, he's going to stop him.

Another thing, the Akatsuki. He's wondering whether or not they've caught wind of his disappearce yet. He's trying to avoid them as much as he possibly can, because he means to avoid the consequences long enough to help out Sasuke. If there was one thing the Akatsuki absolutely did not tolerate on any magnitude, is treachery. But guess what, he does not care. There were many things that were more important than simple peacemaking by nuke. He honestly does not think by blowing up multiple civilizations which puts fear in them until they lose the will to fight. It just doesn't seem like the road to peace. But he couldn't let them know that.

But...he had a feeling that there was more to this than meets the eye. He's been living in an evergrowing web of lies, so he knows that something wasn't exactly right with this. The Tailed Beasts aren't meant to be used as weapons, they were living things, just like everyone else. That's why he stayed out of that source of business as much as he can. As for the scene with Naruto...he had to make it look real in order to check on Sasuke. Again, hurting Sasuke hurts himself three times over. But it had to be done. He just hopes that he isn't doing the wrong thing. He's always thinking about this.

Back to the Akatsuki. They haven't been as peace seeking as they were claiming themselves to be. Itachi may have been the only pure good one on that team, as all the others were just enjoying inflicting pain. He did not like inflicting pain, not unless it was for the greater good. Seriously though, he had plenty of untrust for what the Akatsuki were doing. They saw his potential, allowing him to slip in easily. But they were certain to notice his betrayal, especially his partner, Kisame, one of the most loyal members of all.

" Hello...Itachi." Speaking of Kisame...

Whipping his sword out, he lashed at his attacker, who was in turn lashing at him. Swords collided with each other, as they looked at each others eyes. Itachi's Sharingan began to flare, as Kisame was keeping his sword grip tight. Itachi saw signs of disappointment, anger, and even worry in his former partners eyes. "Why'd you do it, Itachi?" "I don't know what you're talking about." "You know exactly what I'm talking about!" They swung at each other, the clash sending them both plenty of feet away from each other. Kisame went on the charge again, as Itachi readied himself to avoid attacks.

"Why would you turn on the Akatsuki?!" He slashed Samehada at Itachi, who backflipped, and threw out a barrage of shuriken, which Kisame blocked with his blade. He landed on the ground no problem. "If I told you, you wouldn't understand! I HAD to do what I did for my own reasons!" Itachi swung his blade, as Kisame was just ready to knock him out with a solid punch, while also attempting to slash him again. He canceled his attack to jump back a few feet to prevent himself from losing chakra even faster.

He landed on his feet, now glaring at Kisame. "I don't want to quarrel with you Kisame!" He charged at Kisame, jumped up, and threw himself at him with a kick. The latter shielded himself with his sword, but the kick was powerful enough to make him slide backwards, and knock him into a tree. "HURGH?!" He slid to the ground, about to recover his balance. But Itachi was already over him, glaring with his Mangekyō Sharingan. " I'm not going to fight you, Kisame. As a former comrade, I'm going to make this as painless as I can." His eyes widened. " Mangekyo Sharingan." Kisame looked into the eyes, and he was suddenly in a wavy trance. His vision blurred, and his brain was somewhat scrambled. His sword dropped to the ground, and so did his knees. His eyes stared into space, as he was unable to say or do anything.

Itachi's Sharingan turned back to normal, as he looked down at the incapitated Kisame. He turned his back, sheathed his sword, and began to walk away. "I'm sorry, my comrade. But I cannot allow you to give away my true intentons, or my location. That should wipe your memory only by a few hours, with no harm. Do not hold this against me, please. This shall be the last time we see each other for quite a while. Goodbye."

Itachi made it a fair distance away already. He needed to find out where Naruto and Sasuke were, and hear the answers from the both of them. But, all of a sudden, he stopped, and started coughing heavily. He was suddenly on his knees. He picked something out of his pouch, it was a medicine pack. He rustled through it, and put something in his mouth. A few moments after, he began standing up straight again. " Not yet...its too soon...far too soon...need...to survive..." With that determination for an unknown reason, he sped off into the woods again.

* * *

Naruto was still asleep, snoring quietly. He finally relaxed quite a bit after such a long time of thinking negative, something that he always told himself not to do. But because of his prolonged sleep, he had no idea what was happening in his surroundings. Except for the nudging being done towards his face, he could feel it.

"Good. He seems to be recovering MUCH faster than I thought he would." _I don't recognize that voice. Where the heck am I? _

"Oh thank goodness. For a second there I thought he wouldn't wake up. But I think he's a little shy, he's pretending he's still asleep." _I don't recognize that voice either. Not only does it sound female...it sounds gentle. And...very friendly. _

"Enough sleeping. Get your ass up, loser." _Okay. I am sure that was Sasuke. I know that dull voice anywhere. _

Naruto finally opened his eyes. He was looking...right into the eyes of a snake. They just looked at each other for a moment, completely calm. "Uh...hi?" "Hi!" That was surely the female voice from a few moments ago. There were flowers on her head, she wore lipstick, a pink scarf around her neck, and she had ocean blue eyes...just like his.

Its not like Naruto hated snakes, just irritated by the ones that tried to kill him either by poison...or eating him alive. He was unforunately cursed with both of those experiences. Great, he wanted to forget Orochimaru, not have his mind filled with him. Yet...he somehow knows that she is different. They both feel this connection in their hearts. Just by looking at each other...a bond was already formed. " What's your name?" She asked him after a moment.

"Naruto. My name is Naruto Uzumaki. How about your name?" He responded when he did not feel endangered. "My name is Master Viper. But you can just call me Viper!" Okay, he now knows that they aren't hostile. Why would they be?

"Well then, I think its safe to say that you're almost healed up." The bird said. His name's Master Crane, or just Crane. All he wore was blue pants, a straw hat, and a light blue scarf around his neck. "I heard it all from Oogway. You weren't as hurt as we all thought you were." Sasuke was in the doorway, his back towards it, arms crossed. "You just charged in there as usual. You really are a complete dufus."

"At least I did something! You were planning to just leave the guy there!" "I never said that! I just said that charging into something we aren't used to is a bad idea! And GUESS what you did?!" "Saved his life? Yeah I remember that, do YOU?" "Course I did...right after I had to save you from being pounded all over again!" And...the banter continues. Crane sighed after the sudden outburst, as it harmed his hearing. Viper didn't really have a viewable reaction. Except..." Alright! Break it up! He just recovered, let's not stress him out!" Naruto mumbled; "Too late..."

Just then, two more figures came in afterwards, checking in on them. Crane acknowledged them. "Monkey, Mantis, he's awake." Monkey didn't wear much either. Just brown pants, and a brown scarf. Mantis didn't really have anything, just a very tiny green scarf that surprisngly fit him perfectly. "Oh cool! That's great to hear!" They both approached them slowly. "Your friend said that you tried taking on the Lin Kuei. When Oogway told us that you were ninjas, we took back what we said about you guys being crazy." Naruto flinched. "You called us crazy?" Mantis hopped on his shoulder, tapping his neck. "Now now, let's not dwell on past insults, all we have to dwell on now is your condition." "But I'm fine!" "Sure you are..." Viper slapped his head. "Ow!" "Quit picking on him!"

Sasuke tried to block out the noise, but eventually he gave up for the sake of sanity. So he just completely left the room, going on to explore, which is something Naruto was usually doing. He went through the halls, the Hall of Heroes that is. There was many age old artifacts in here about China's history. Paintings, weapons, whispering jars(that looks like its been broken and glued together more times than it should have) and a tiny pond. He looked towards one sword in particular, green colored and shining off the light. It was only for a few seconds, until he felt pain on his finger. "Ah?! What the-?!"

"I suggest not staring at the Sword of Heroes for an extended period of time. So many cuts could turn into decapitation." Sasuke turned down to a small Master, Master Shifu. Wearing a jade green shawl with a golden clamp with an insignia on it. There seemed to be an unknown aura shaping around him that Sasuke couldn't read. Not that he was trying to. His finger was still in a deal of pain. " Are you telling me that this sword is so sharp that it cuts just by looking at it?" "That's pretty much what it can do, yes." Sasuke paused for a few moments. "That...is one sharp sword."

Soon enough, everyone gathered in the Hall of Heroes. "Hey Sasuke! Whatcha doin?" Naruto asked. Sasuke quickly looked back and forth between Naruto and the Sword of Heroes, then smirked evilly. "Not much. Say...Naruto...you wanna take a look at this sword over there?" "Okay!" Naruto hastily ran over there, but Crane blocked his path just as quickly with his wing, sweatdropping. "Ab...solutely...not." Naruto wondered why, but Sasuke saying this by asking nicely seems like a bad idea.

" Hall of Heroes? Ok then! First rule: Sasuke tells you to touch the sword...don't touch it. Second rule: The old...red...raccoon-" "Red Panda." "Thanks. The red panda named...uh..." "Shifu. Master Shifu." "Right. Master Shifu is in charge, right?" Shifu walked up to Naruto, looking over him. "Not exactly. Grandmaster Oogway still resides here, and still makes the rules." "You mean Turtle Sage Oogway?" Shifu looked over the nickname...it wasn't disrespectful to him. "Um...yes. As I was saying-"

"Master Shifu!" "What she said! Shifu!" Everyone turned to the Thousand Steps, to see Tigeress marching to the top. Po...was barely getting to the top. "Ha...ha...Lin Kuei...attack Valley...looking for revenge...or something...don't really know why..." Po's words stopped for a split second, as he looked into Naruto's eyes. Ocean blue met with Jade Green, as there were only a few things on their minds. _Wonder...questions...heart...honesty...destiny...and...hunger. Lots of hunger for food, but mostly the destiny thing. _

Sasuke turned to Naruto. "Those cruddy wolves must be here to finish us off. Probably because we tricked them, and they don't look like they like being tricked." "So what? We're all just gonna have to deal with them! Right Monkey?! Monkey?" Everyone looked at where the primate was rushing off the stairs, jumping into the sky into the valley. "See you at the bottom!" Naruto grew fumed. " He did NOT!" He jumped after him, as the rest of the Five, minus Tigeress, rushed off as well.

Tigeress and Sasuke was seen walking towards the doors, with Tigeress put on her red scarf. No time for introductions. "I really do love them so...but they also annoy me greatly..." Sasuke looked at her for a moment, silenty. "...I think we can get along fine...somewhat." They then jumped out as well. Shifu saw them out, rubbing a pulsing vein. "We all try to make a decent visit for innocent visitors...and someone keeps RUINING IT!" He calmed down, and walked back into the palace.

* * *

**That's another chapter down! If anyone wants to know, this story will have at least three to four arcs in it. Not sure how many chapters yet, just going along as I go. **

**Reviews are appreciated. As they in one way signify that you actually read this. Thanks!**


	6. The Adoption And The Folly

**The next chapter is at hand! The views are getting closer to one thousand, which Is pretty good. So much better than my other story, because a thousand only took a week! Seriously, is that good? Not very sure.**

**Let us go on!**

* * *

The crisis was averted, so to speak. As for the so to speak part...those wolves got away. First sight of the Furious Five and they were off running in an instant, as they just left empty handed. We can simply say that they completely broke a lot of things looking for something important, and they couldn't find it. Whatever they wanted, they were very desperate to get it. The Lin Kuei weren't very keen with failure, they hated failure more than they hated everyone. That just gets more confusing as it goes. It didn't matter though. All they could do was just head back to the palace. There was much to be done about their new visitors.

Here is what Viper summed up. Between the two of them, Sasuke was the smarter one, and the thinker on attempts. For some strange reason, he desired to be distant and non sociable, and doesn't feel like doing fun things with many residents. He was more into staying organized, prepared, and willing to power through. Naruto seemed to be the light to Sasuke's dark. He actually liked all if the attention he manages to get, as being ignored is something he doesn't really take very well. He's one who likes to grab every opportunity to get stronger. It was a painful experience most of the time, but he always kept going. He was the one who picks small fights with Sasuke, yet always tries to help him up when he needs it. She hasn't exactly figured them both out, since they all just met, more patience was needed on that subject. And she is a very patient individual...unless provoked. And its really hard to do that.

Naruto was the most visibly disappointed. Those stupid mutts just ran off at the sight of them. Guess they didn't feel like fighting at that time, a few hours after they almost pounded his head in with spinning mallets. Seriously, even for him, it could have caused a concussion. Or a coma, like Sasuke previously said. Jhong was nowhere to be seen, however. Sasuke concluded that he went back home, waiting to meet them again. Naruto was glad he didn't have to explain that embarrassment to his new wolf friend. As for everyone else, what use was there in hiding it? Obviously none.

_That was such a bummer. I really wanted some payback. **I agree. How they just pounded you was unforgivable and...he's still not talking to me. Great...** _Kurama was bored as hell, but not enough to actually say sorry to the blond. He completely brought this on himself...right? That has to be it. The Nine-Tails NEVER feels guilty! So...why does his chest hurt so much? He refuses to believe that guilt still clouded his mind. He should be shrugging it off and have been over it by now...he should be over it...why isn't he over it?

Po waved quickly at his father while passing by, for the second time. He was a nice guy, greeting and leaving everyone as he goes. Those wolves don't seem as eager to steal from them as last time. Guess they were losing their morale. Or they were planning something...or they lost some of their morale. Po likedto be optimistic and happy, seeing the positives on most things made them better most of the time. Not that he's completely oblivious to bad things in the world, he just likes to ease his mind of too much stress. He would have wondered further about this, when he approached the Thousand Steps, and he sighed heavily.

"Aw man! I keep forgetting I need to go UP these things..." Naruto laughed. "No problem for me and Sasuke! Ninjas can go anywhere!" At the moment, the two started zipping up the stairs, as everyone else also speeded up to report back to Shifu. Po looked at the stairs, then back at a smiling Tigeress. "Want me to carry you up?" She said as she held out her arms. Po looked back and forth again, and sighed while hanging his head. "Yes please..." He rubbed his head, tightened his black and white scarf, and walked towards Tigeress. This was so embarrassing, the guys kept making fun of him for this...

_**In the Grandmaster's Room...**_

Shifu sat quietly, waiting for his students to approach him. By the way the place doors opened, the rants of a 13-year old boy, and disappointed sighs from a tiger, he'd guess things didn't go so well. There was concern, but this must be an indication that they won't be back for quite some time.

Shifu could finally close his eyes and relax a bit. The students didn't fail, they just didn't expect those wolves to just randomly retreat to one direction. But he did not won't that on his conscience. Mediation was in order. "Inner Peace..._Inner Peace...ha...Inner Peace...Inner Pea-" __  
_

_FATHER! _

That sudden shout in his head snapped him out of it real quick. It must have been a sign, because the candles he lit instantly blew out when he heard the voice. _No...it...it can't be. Why now of all times? He couldn't still be...then again...of course he would..._

He then sat back down, rubbing his ears. The day was bad enough with an unlucky start to visitors, the Lin Kuei, and now this? It was now Shifu's unluckiest day ever. Who would have guessed that it would be when ninjas showed up. He feels like he's lost a bet...but that clearly wasn't the issue right now. Something was clearly amiss.

"Master? Hello? May we come in?" He recognized the voice, and looked towards the wall. "You may enter." On approval, Tigeress quietly came in, with Po following behind, as they then sat cross-legged on the floor. "The Lin Kuei got away from us. Sorry about that." Po realized that he wasn't the most formal in the world. But Shifu's known him long enough to put that aside. "Its alright. I have something else on my mind right now. Is there anything else you want to tell me?"

Po and Tigeress took the time to analyze what Shifu was telling them as he continued to look away from them. When he looks away from the conversation, it means that there is something he doesn't feel like talking about. He feels like this often, and this worries them. "Master? Is there something bothering you?" Shifu didn't know why he bothered hiding it, they can feel the uneasiness coming off of him. So he came clean. "I think you both know what bothers me, correct?" The two took a moment to process this, then looked at each other.

"Him."

* * *

_**A few months after the last flashback...**_

The Valley was quiet today. Daylight can be seen everywhere, as all the folks began to wake up from their slumber. The place slowly began to feel lively, as they began scurrying out of their homes. A certain one was still sleeping in his hammock, quietly snoring.

Mr. Ping came upstairs, seeing the panda cub was still asleep. He quietly walked over to him and shook him lightly. "Po? Come on son, its morning. Up and at em!" He only pulled the covers over him, groaning childishly. "Come on Dad...just five more minutes...or until morning is not as blinding as it is now..." The goose sighed at the cubs sleepiness, while he found it adorable, it was holding them both up. He eventually came up with a sneaky idea, and turned around with a mischievious smile. "Alright then, son. But if you can't wake up on time, you won't be able to go see Tigeress." At the mention of his friends name, Po was put in a short frenzy. "What?! Nonononono Dad! I'm up! I'm up!" He shuffled around the hammock, until it eventully tipped kver and made him fall over and hit his head. "Ow..."

"Po! Are you alright?!" Po rubbed his head as he got up. "Yeah...just a little headache, that's all. Wait...are you still gonna let me see Tigress?" "Of course I am, Po! That's the only other thing that will get you out of bed! Haha!" The cub sighed. "Dad..." Mr. Ping found it one of his pasttimes to make sure Po's friendship with the young tiger was a happy one for the both of them. He could tell she's been very lonely for quite some time. She has been stuck in a dark room for many years, Po was her new light.

"Anyway Dad, can I go?" The goose came back from the counter and brought the cub two bags that smelled really good to Po. His stomach already grumbled. "Don't even think about it Po. This is for both you and Tigeress, you can't go and eat the both of them. Because you wanted to do something nice for her with better lunch. Do you remember?" "Oh yeah! Heh, that was close." He relented, and just took the bags from him. "Thanks Dad!"

After that little converse, Mr. Ping walked Po to the Bao Gu Orphanage, already approved by the caretakers. "I'll be back this afternoon, Po." "But Dad, don't you want help around the shop?" "No, its no trouble at all. I'm not gonna prevent you from spending time with a friend, just promise me you'll behave." Mr. Ping finished, as he walked away, waving at Po. "Okay Dad! Bye!" As the goose went away, Po went inside.

The children were all playing inside the main room, albeit keeping a safe distance away from Tigress. He walked over to the cub with a smile. "Hey!" She looked up towards him, and her sad look went away instantly. "Po! You came!" She jumped up and hugged him, as he just let her do so, because he had things in his hands. "Just like I said I would." When she released him, she smelled the aroma from inside the bags. "What's that?" "Oh, my dad packed the both of us lunches." She was taken aback by this. "Wait...he made lunch...for me?" Po blushed a little while rubbing his neck. "Actually...I made it, he just helped me out." Tigeress had no idea that Po would just take time out of the day to make this for her. He's already promised to see her as much as he could without taking time away from his father. But the goose didn't seem to mind at all. He's just glad that Po has a friend to hang out with.

"Po...you really cooked for me?" He blushed a little brighter. He was having a hard time looking at her smile without feeling flustered. Why was that? "Like I said, I had a little help. Oh, here! Try some." The bags were set down, as he took out two bowls of his Dad's noodles, they were still very much warm. Tigeress took the bowl carefully while looking at him. He handed her chopsticks, and gestured her to go on. She did not want to seem very rude, as she somehow feels that this was too much generosity from the panda. Yet her rumbling stomach said otherwise. So she just shrugged it off, and took a taste of the noodles herself. She was instantly mesmorized into taking larger bites.

"I never tasted anything like this! This is beyond good! Its...um...really good! Super good!" Po smiled, expecting this sort of reaction from first time tasters. He then began eating his own food. "That's Dad's Secret Ingredient Soup for ya!" Tigeress was usually one for manners, but she apparently forgot them at the current moment. "Mmmm...what's so secret about it?" "That's what's so secret, he won't tell me until I'm older. I asked him how much older, all he did was laugh at me." They were silent for a few moments, just casually eating their food. Tigeress then said something else. "Your dad is weird." "Yeah, he's weird. But so am I." They both seemed very content with that, before Po realized what he said. She beat him to the punch though. "Po, its okay. Really, it is." Awkwardness was then replaced with happy smiles.

After a few hours, they went back to the usual playtime. Tigeress chased Po around in a cat and mouse kind of fashion. Let's just say that Po was a very evasive mouse, he won a lot of those games because of child stamina. Eventually, she pounced once more, this time catching the panda off-guard. She pinned him by his arms, with her feet on his belly.

"Aw man...you won!" Tigeress smirked. "Hey, a mouse can avoid the cat a lot, yet eventually the cat catches him. I caught ya!"

"Excuse me." Thw two stopped giggling, as they both looked forward to the source of the voice. In front of them was a red panda, with the white fur, the brown around some of it. The brown robes covered him, and the white mustache indicates that he is indeed old. His blue eyes locked on to the children in front of him. Seeing them both will make this easier. Before he could say anything though, Po jumped to his feet.

"No...flipping...way...is that Shifu? THE Master Shifu?!" Tigeress was confused about his sudden jumpy attitude. Who was this man? "Po? Do you know him?" The panda looked back at his friend, smiling big as ever. "I don't know him, I know OF him. As the greatest Kung Fu Master in all of China! What's he doing here?!" Shifu found it clear that Po was quite the fan. So maybe this will work after all. "Interesting that you might say that. I'm actually here for her." They all knew he was talking about Tigeress. But why would he do that? So she walked up to him calmly. Let's make it clear that both cubs were just about Shifu's size. Its quite surprising.

"Me?" "That's right. I've heard that you are one with extreme power. Power that, went put together with rage, made you put fear in everyone around you." Tigeress' mood lowered a little bit from his description. Po was feeling uneasy about this. Why would he say such things? It wasn't making sense from someine like Shifu. "Everyone...except one innocent panda cub." This made them both shoot upwards in surprise. He then walked towards them, his look filled with support and understanding. "There is a way to control the strength you possess. And I believe your friend may be the key to a much faster process. But...you have to let me help you. Its a choice you can make."

They took the Master's words into account, and looked at each other. "Po?" "You heard him, Ti. Its a decision you have to make yourself. I'll just be there to help." After this was said, she looked towards the ground. She didn't even know this man, so there was a little doubt that resided within her. But she also wants a more firm leash on her strength. Usually she thought about it just so someone would talk to her. But now she has another reason. One day, she would accidently hurt Po if she lashed out. She didn't want that to happen. She looked back at Po, who just looked back at her, then at Shifu. "Okay."

After the approval from both the guys, they got started. Over time, Shifu brought in plenty of dominoes set in a certain place. When they were set, Shifu and Po stood back and sat down, as Tigeress stood in front of the dominoes. "Allow me to introduce you to a game of dominoes. Setting them correctly requires a certain amount of discipline and patience. You may begin when ready." She looked at Po, who simply waved at her with encouragement. When she found it safe, she reached for one. Right when she had it in her grip, it shattered. "Aw man!" A look of encouragement from both Shifu and Po allowed her to keep going.

She then tried to place some in a certain pattern she imaged in her head. But she tried to set one down, she went and knocked down another by mistake. She shook her head in frustration, as she tried again. She accidently crushed more dominoes by gripping too hard. After a few more mistakes and slip-ups, she eventually dropped them and punched the ground. Her claws were beginning to sheathe out. Her eyes were slitted.

"RAGH! THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE!" As she shouted out, Po ran to her side, feeling her head. "Woah woah! Calm down Tigeress! Steady breaths! Steady breaths!" She continued to growl, but it toned down when Po began petting her head. She eventually began to breathe easier. "Steady breaths...steady breaths..." When she stopped growling, it was replaced by purring, as she rubbed her head into Po's paw. He stopped, as she looked at him. "Po...this is very hard...how am I supposed to do this?" "Ti, you have to remember what Shifu said. This takes discipline and patience. If you want to take control, you have to be patient." She was unsure of how he wanted to keep supporting her, especially since he's seen her temper outburst for himself. He truly wasn't afraid of her. "But is anyone willing to wait so long for me?" "You have me and Shifu, don't you?" She didn't really think of it like that, they were willing to wait as long as it takes. "We're right here, Tigress." Po went over and sat down next to Shifu again, as they both nodded at her to continue.

She breathed in, and gripped the dominoes. She held in her paw, as she focused on not crushing it. _Focus Tigress...you need to focus...Po believes in you. You should do this for him. _As she gathered this mindset, she set the domino down carefully, with perfect balance. Then swiftly, she gathered two more in a wavy pattern. Actually looking at it, she was surprised. Shifu smiled at her newest breakthrough, as did Po. "That's the way, Ti! Just keep going!" Gaining confidence, she continued to stack them, one after another. She used her paws, head, feet, even balanced one on her tail to make the image she had in mind. When she finally finished, she saw that all ot them were stacked to perfection. _Now...for the finishing touch. _With a simple tap of the foot, she set all of the dominoes in motion. At a set amount of time, they formed a shape, into a yin-yang type of shape. She hopped at the accomplishment.

Po also hopped, and ran over to hold her paws. "You did it!" "I really did! This is amazing!" The cubs just took the moment to jump around happily. Shifu eventually walked over and acknowledged them. "Congrats indeed, Tigeress. You have achieved control, and discipline. Now...of I may ask...how would you like a nice offering?" The cub continued to look at him. "Offering?" "Yes. Offering...of a home." Tigeress stood stiff at the statement just heard. He was for real? Really for real? But of what Po said was true...she gets to learn Kung Fu? "You would really do that?" "Why of course. It IS Adoption Day after all." Po suddenly jumped at that realization. His father DID mention something about Adoption Day! He didn't realize that it was today! "Tigress! You hear that?!" Tigeress gripped his paws and began hopping around again. "I have a father! Awesome!" Shifu smiled at the cubs happiness. To separate them would be heartbreaking. So it was only nice for the panda to visit once in a while, he won't admit that it gets kinda boring in the Jade Palace. It just himself, Oogway and-

_**Jade Palace...**_

Tai Lung has once again torn apart what was left of the wooden dummies. Which was right next to the pile of other torn apart wooden dummies that were ripped to shreds by his sheer power. Oogway sighed when he saw this, feeling something growing in him. The light was dying away in him. Just then, he heard the palace doors open, as he went to see who it was. All in all, it was Shifu, Tigress, and Po entering the palace. "My...what do we have here?"

"Master. I would like to introduce a new addition to the Jade Palace. Tigeress?" She looked between the two of them, then quickly bowed. Po bowed too, but ended up falling on his face by accident. Tigeress somehow by relfex helped him back up quickly. "H-H-HI M-Master O-O-Oogway...its an honor. A true honor!" Oogway just smiled as the cub tried to compose himself. He nodded silently. _It's him..._He just left it at that. Shifu then looked back at Tigeress. "Come, young one. You should meet your new brother." "Wow! I have a brother too?" It was time for Po to go, so he bid farewell as Tigress took the time to adjust to her new home. Po was happy that his friend found a home at last. He thought nothing else could go wrong.

Only Oogway could see how wrong that thought was. As time passed, Tigeress learned quite a few things about Tai Lung. Such as Shifu teaching him Kung Fu right when he had the age to. What she could _feel _however, was that his heart was changing by the day. But as a mere cub, she could not truly comprehend what was really happening to him. Shifu could have, but he never thought of that as a possibility. How that proved to be one of his ultimate mistakes, was proven only a mere two months later...

Po was in Tigeress' new room, as they chatted about how each others lives were going. They had no idea what was going to happen next. "So Tigeress...how are you in the whole Kung Fu thing?" "Its amazing Po! Of course I can't be trying the absolutely advanced stuff yet. But I'm doing well enough with just the basics." They sat comfortably as they spoke about Tigeress' experience here. Like how Tai Lung sometimes playfully calls her "kitty" or "little sis". The first one usually gets on her nerves. The perks of being the younger sibling...is tjat the younger sibling is usually a target. But that makes the older one a scapegoat, since they know better. "So anyway-" BOOM!

The room began to shake, as their balance faltered, and Po fell over. Tigeress again quickly stood back up and helped him. They both shuffled to their feet as they tried to figure out what just happened.

"What's going on?! What was that?!" Po looked out the window, and looked horrified. The Valley looked like it was on fire! "What the?! What's going on down there?!" Tigeress saw the destruction too, and was also filled with a fixed amount of horror. When did this start going on?! When she's seen enough, she grabbed Po's paw and dragged him out. They needed Shifu. The two hurriedly made their way to the Hall of Warriors, where they saw Shifu and Oogway scurrying around in a slight panic.

"Shifu!" The old Master heard them, and ran towards them. "Children, go back to Tigress' room, immediately!" Just by the tone of his voice, they both grew scared of what was happening. Shifu looked so worried about keeping the two out of whatever was happening. Tigeress saw the one detail that Po didin't notice yet. Tai Lung was missing. "Where's Tai Lung?" "That isn't important right now. Just hurry on back to the rooms! It isn't safe!"

Just as that moment passed, something busted right through the palace doors. A fierce roar was heard right after, as something jumped right through the rubble. The cubs stood in shock. Po especially. "Why are you...?" Tai Lung did not heed the cubs at all. He only looked at what he truly desired: The scroll hanging from the dragon's mouth on the ceiling. The Dragon Scroll. Not saying a word, he charged right for the scroll. Po was about to sat something to him, but Shifu just pushed the cubs back. "Stay back!" Turning back to the snow leopard, Shifu charged at him, aiming for an attack. Before it could actually land, he relented. Something told him that he couldn't do it. Taking advantage, the enemy struck at his hip, shattering it instantly, then knocking him to the side. Tigeress ran to his side right that moment. "SHIFU!"

Po looked at the fallen form of the master, then back at Tai Lung. Something then made him angry. "Stop it! Why are you doing this?!" "The Dragon Scroll shouldbe mine! I've come such a long way to claim it, and they denied me!" "What are you saying?!" "That turtle over there told me that I could never be the Dragon Warrior! So I'm taking what's mine!"

The cub wasn't scared at Tai Lung's roar. He only got madder. "And you chose to demonstrate that you deserved it by trashing your home?" The statement struck the snow leopard the wrong way. "Or about attacking the people that you are supposed to protect? Or how about striking at your master/father just for listening to what he was told to do?!" "Don't play mind games! I know what I deserve! You are just a cub!" Po just shook his head. "You not very much better than I am, Tai Lung. Just like a cub would, you threw a tantum when someone's told you no. I thought you were mature. I thought you were cool!" Po then gestured to his left. "And worst of all, just look at Tigeress!"

He did so, and came across something unsettling. The cub was weeping as she laid over an injured Shifu. Po has never seen her cry, not until now. The panda then looked back at Tai Lung, still mad. "Is this what the Dragon Warrior is supposed to be remembered for? Lashing out against the innocent just because you were denied something? When that something involves protecting that innocence?" Tai Lung began to feel odd, as he tried to regain his anger.

"Get out of the way Po-" "Or what? You're gonna kill me? Are you really willing to do that? We believed in you, and look at what you're doing because of it. Tigeress looks up to you...you broke her heart." The snow leopard began to lose his anger, which only filled him with more betrayal. That went over the line. "So that's it? You all betrayed me then?" "No Tai Lung. You betrayed yourself, and took it out on everyone else. How can you deny that?" Tai Lung began to lose his antagonistic attitude, and put his claw down. The cub was too young to be able to cut so deep. They must have taught him to apply guilt to opponents. Or...he's always like this...

He sighed, and walked away from all four of them. "All right then. I'll play it your way, for today. But in the future..." He said nothing else, as he jumped out the broken doors. Po then turned back to Shifu and Tigeress, and ran for them. Shifu got up on his own, and looked out the door, feeling very broken about what he's unleashed. Po turned towards the crying Tigeress, who instantly pulled him into a soft hug. "Po...oh Po...why did brother do this? Why would he turn on us like this? I don't understand why he would do this..." Po just held her crying form, rubbing her back as her tears stained his fur. He didn't understand why either. His father is probably worried sick, but for now, he wanted to help his best friend get through this.

_Its all right Tigeress...I'll help you through this. I promise you that I will. Someday, I'll get him to see his mistake, and be happy with us again..._

* * *

**_Present time... _**

Sasuke recurred the story he was told about Tai Lung as he dashed away from the Valley. It seems that this place has its share of sad stories as well. It was the last thing he wanted to think about at the moment, so he just needed to get out of it. Before he even got a chance to think about it more, something approached him from the shadows. Oh wow, he was JUST thinking about him. Tai Lung. The eyes looked like they caught a prey. " Hello...human."

"Ah...dammit..."

* * *

_**Once again, sorry about the seriously long flashback. I kinda just lost myself in it. Anyway, let me know what you think. I wanna hear your say about this, because it seems to be doing well. But I'm not too sure about it.**_

_**Review, Favorites, and Follows are cool. I have plenty of the last two already. I'm still grateful!**_


	7. Taking Down Tai Lung!

**Chapter Seven is here! That's all I have to say...except that fight scenes...admittedly not my thing. I'm trying though, I'm trying. Sorry about that.**

**Let's begin! **

* * *

Sasuke stood still as the snow leopard stared him down. This is one of those few times that he actually felt like he was cornered. They satid that he was deadly, big, powerful, and an exile. Its not that he didn't believe them, but what are the chances of actually running into him? He expected it to be pretty low...now he feels like an idiot.

Just in case he needed to, he stood at the ready. But the chances of him actually doing anything depending on what the snow leopard did next. There was no indication of anything hostile, but thats just how effective having a mask is. Tai Lung just stood there, waiting patiently, seeing what might happen. Sasuke didn't look like he was planning on doing anything. The silence was starting to get to him.

"So, human? What are doing around a place like this? Are you lost?" "No...you know, I'm just seeing...uh...places. Went traveling to many different regions just to get here...very long journey." This seemingly normal conversation did not bring Sasuke any comfort. In fact, he was even more on edge than ever. He had to get away.

"So...what's your name?" "Um...Sasuke." "Sasuke...you seen like a fellow who knows a way or two around a fight. I can see that kind of look in your eyes. Care to humor me with a demonstration?" Sasuke eased in one direction, Tai Lung saw right through him. He was no fool. Compared to the training Tai Lung has received from legendary masters, and the fact that he hid for 20 years doing who knows what...Sasuke felt so outmatched it made him sick. But he didn't sense any killing intent from him...he must really be in it for playfulness. That's what truly made him nervous.

He tried to find a way to avoid this situation, there was no way he was going to get into something he isn't ready for. He took it from Naruto: You don't need countless abilities to be powerful, he tried to learn from that example. But its hard to take in calming advice when your life is currently in danger. Now he could find understanding in how Naruto handles those things. It was extremely difficult, as he always saw it, yet never acknowledged it. Now...again...he feels like an idiot. _I really wish I didn't stray from the path...bad things happen so many times when that happens..._

Sasuke tried to find an escape route. He didn't find any. "Sorry pal, not feeling like fighting at the moment. I just got through with my travel, and I'm not in the mood for any more delays." Tai Lung smiled. "Isn't that sad...very unlucky for you...because I don't care." Not even a full five seconds passed and he already pounded the ground where Sasuke was. He jumped away at the last moment, and inspected the damage. "That could have broken something very important..." He turned to see the enemy already charging at him. Fighting him simply won't do, he needs to avoid and dodge.

Sasuke avoided one leg sweep, only to stand right in front of another fist to the face. He was knocked a fair distance away before stopping to grab his face. _He punches hard as hell! _

Just as he recovered, the adversary rushed him again, aiming for another barrage, as Sasuke just struggled to stay away from anymore blows. Tai Lung pounded the ground with his feet, and kicked a piece of earth at the boy, who reacted and jumped away from the wreckage. He then did the same thing again. Punched the earth and kicked many pieces of it at him. Sasuke sensed the pieces coming, used Sharingan to keep track, and dodged every piece as quickly as his agility could let him.

He eventually punched the last piece of rock tossed right at him, receiving a slightly hurt hand in the process. He looked back up, seeing the other coming at him with an axe kick. Sasuke jumped back as the kick very nearly made contact, shattering the ground. _Oh swell...he can crack the ground...AND my head! _Tai Lung came in for another attack. Now knowing that he wasn't going to leave him be, Sasuke launched himself at the enemy, aiming to punch him in return. It was easily blocked, as he went to kick his head while he was still in midair. His foot was caught, and he was slammed into the ground, then punched into a nearby boulder. His back hit the rock, as he coughed out.

"Damn...talk about child abuse...except I'm not a child..." Sasuke was sick of this. There was no way he was gonna get beaten into a pulp without getting at least one stupid hit in. So Tai Lung reached to claw at him, he actually managed to dodge it, and flip, then kicked him into the air. _Here! _They both seemed to soar through the air, as they flew upwards. Sasuke got him with two strong kicks to the back, then had his punch blocked when the other one retaliated. He tried to punch again, but the attempt was halted as his wrist was grabbed, and got his arm slightly twisted, as he groaned from the sudden pain. Tai Lung then grabbed both his legs then threw him right back at the boulder, almost cracking it this time. Sasuke slid back down to the ground, trying to breathe easy. Tai Lung landed on all fours, smiling. "Want to keep going?"

Sasuke was unable to answer, for he was too focused on forcing himself to stand up. Thats when he started seeing something covering his body. _No! The Curse Mark! Perfect timing! Can't...move... _

It looked like he was done for. But as Tai Lung moved in, something shot out and knocked him a fair distance away from the boy. On que, Tigress landed next to Sasuke, as the rest of the Five checked on him. Crane mostly looked over him. "You alright? We know you wanted some outside time, but we didn't think this was the result! We shouldn't have left you alone." He merely shrugged him off as if it weren't serious, when it clearly was. Tigeress shook her head at her adversary.

"This is what its come to, brother? You've lowered yourself into attacking an unprepared opponent? And a child, no less. You never gave him a chance." "Oh Tigeress. Sweet and innocent, yet such a fool. You realize that I did give him a chance, he chooses not to take it, and I act on it. No more than that. Unless you plan on doing something about it." Tigress snarled as she engaged him. The very first punch she landed connects with his arm, resulting in a small rumble. He tried to catch her arm, then receiving a kick to the face by a swift Monkey.

A few seconds later he was pounded right through a tree. Tai Lung recovered, and adjustedhis shoulders to catch Tigeress' kick with his hand. After a quick moment, he flung her a few feet away, as she still managed to land on her feet. There was a moment of silence, as they looked at each other. Then she charged forth once again. She jumped and aimed for an upward kick, as Tai Lung began to counter it, she faked a fall and used a strong punch instead. As he staggered, she then hit him hard with both her fist, forcing him into the same boulder. He looked at a large rock, and smiles.

Crane made sure Sasuke was alright, and flew into the air. "Make sure he doesn't get injured any further." Viper and Mantis nodded. "Will do Cra- LOOK OUT!" "for wha-UGH!" Tai Lung grabbed the large rock and threw it at the bird while he was airborne. It smashed into him and was knocked a far way back. Monkey eventually recovered, only to find his tail gripped by the enemy. "Hi." Tai Lung then swung him in a circle, until he let go and he crashed right into Tigeress. He watched them both get injured from the impact. "Bye."

After that, he found a rock behind flung at him, as he just kicked it to pieces with minimal effort. It was a setup as Crane flew right into him and kicked him in the face with both feet, making him stagger back a bit. The bird then flapped his wings as it summoned a giant gust of wind only slightly less powerful than his other wind blasts. The force knocked him over, and Tigeress came behind him and punched him right in his cheek. Tai Lung flew into the air, attempting to recover his balance. Viper suddenly got a grip on his leg with her tail and slammed him into the ground. She then made her way back to Sasuke. That was the deal, at least one of them has to watch him.

Tigeress was now beginning to struggle as Tai Lung overwhelmed her with her own Double Palm Strike, knocking her into a hard tree. She was now beginning to lose consciousness. Monkey was also punched down into the ground, right into Crane. Tai Lung then jumped into the air, and came down with both his fists powered up, and came back slamming into the ground, creating a massive shockwave that knocked everyone back and everything else down. The dust settled, and Tai Lung stood in the center.

He kicked over a few rocks, and dusted off his hands. When the dust was clearing, he noticed crackles of lightning lighting the field, and saw Sasuke holding a ball of lightning in his hand. Tai Lung was actually interested in it. "These guys have been defending me just to do so. I can never be that noble. But...that doesn't mean I can't take you down!" Sasuke charged forth at him, ready to jab him with his attack. Tai Lung didn't move, he actually wanted the attack to hit him dead on for a secret reason. Sasuke hung his hand back, and then jabbed him with the ball of lightning. Tai Lung suddenly felt searing pain in his chest, but years of endurance training kept him in check. He then gripped the boys hand tightly, and shoved him back to the downed group.

Sasuke was just about done with this, he was creating an escape. So he readied hand signs as quick as he could. _Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu! _He blew jets of flames at the ground, being wary of his newfound comrades, and keeping Tai Lung away. With that mention, Sasuke helped Monkey up, and followed everyone else out of the forest back to the Valley of Peace.

Tai Lung scoffed, he knew that he could get to the Valley before them, no sweat. But first, he looked at his paw. For a quick moment, it cackled with lightning. "So...that boy is a ninja, huh?" He copied Sasuke's Chidori! He then closed his fist, then smirked. "Interesting..."

* * *

Po, Shifu, and Po stood over the Valley of Peace, calmly seeing how the villagers were walking out of the village in an orderly fashion. Oogway was safely tucked away in the Student Barracks, where Tai Lung was too smart to look in. Why? Not really an issue to deal with at the moment. Their mission: Protect the Valley from Tai Lung's fury. But one thing didn't add up for the two others...

"Naruto...you are so young...and a first time visitor to the Valley...why help us defend it?" Shifu asked honestly. Naruto turned to him, blue eyes meeting. "Shifu...Sasuke and I traveled quite a distance from my home to look for a new one, and this place seems pretty cool. You think I'm just gonna let this guy trash it out of a little tantrum? No, I certainly don't roll like that." Po also said something. "Years back, Oogway said Tai Lung wasn't meant to be the Dragon Warrior. Oogway's like, the wisest of the wise. If he says it isn't him, then I believe him."

Shifu shook his head at how easily they agreed on this subject. He then turned back to the stairs, where he heard something flicker in that direction. _There you are... _Tai Lung was there in a flash from the lightning. No one was caught off guard, well, maybe Naruto. _Woah...he's fast! _Shifu looked up to the towering form of the snow leopard. "Son." "Father...or at least I thought so..." Eyes stuck onto Po for a moment in a fit of interest. He breathed easier for the entire time. "Po. It's been such a long time since I've last seen you. How's life?"

"Hasn't been the same since you walked out on us. I thought we were friends." "It was a mere two months, Po. Not enough time to actually know each other well. I didn't walk out on you, you all turned against me. What did you expect?" Naruto scoffed. "I expected a much more mature reponse. And thats coming from me." Tai Lung just stared at them all for a moment.

Until he pounded the ground with his leg, and kicked a giant hunk of rock at them. Po punched it apart, and Shifu swiftly kicked him in the chest, knocking him down the thousand steps. He eventually reached the bottom, as the three warriors landed on any side of him.

"I spent twenty years in hiding. Honing my skills...watching numerous fighting from afar...and had to stay under lower cover because of the bounty on my head!" Tai Lung yelled. Shifu aimed to kick his head, as he blocked it immediately, balanced on his arm, and kicked him away. "Perposterous! I would never do such a thing to you!" "Apparently no one else thought so." Po charged Tai Lung with a full-on tackle, and knocked him against a nearby building.

He looked smugly at the panda, as he kicked him away. "You must have been training behind my back, haven't you? Shifu must have took you in as a student as my replacement. I betted on Tigress." Po became frustrated by this as he punched Tai Lung back, jumped up, and did a side kick to knock him into the ground. He apparently recovered, smirked smugly, and kept flipping backwards, until he stopped and kicked Naruto with both feet. He was forced to the ground, recoiling from the blow.

He turned back to Shifu, and ran right towards him. "Do you even remember how many years I've spent trying to exceed your expectations?!" Shifu jumped as an axe kick landed at the spot he was once at. "Or how many days I hoped that it would finally pay off?!" He jumped into the air, and started exchanging blows with his former Master. They practically flew in the air as the lightning cracked above them. Shifu swiped his paw away as he restrained his arm. The counter was made by throwing him into the ground. "Or how many regrets were made from me ever meeting you! You never believed in me from the start, did you?!" Shifu crashed into the ground, groaning from the pain in his back.

Naruto eventually got up and jumped as high as he could, punching Tai Lung in the face. "You jerk! You should never regret having a family to raise you! Not a lot of children have that kind of special bond in their lives!" The snow leopard growled as the boy charged him in the air. He dodged an incoming kick, and grabbed his legs, and threw him to the earth too, only this time he landed right into a building. He stood back up slowly, his arm starting to hurt. "Just admit it!"

Po ran towards Tai Lung's landing point and punched him right in the chest. He skidded back a few feet before snarling at the panda. "You don't mean that! No matter what Shifu did to you, you love him all the same! You let some title get the better of you!" Tai Lung came back up and slammed both fists into Po's chest, making him stagger. He then jumped and kicked him right through another building, having it crash right on top of him. He pushed the pieces off of him, rubbing his pained head. "Shifu believed in you! Tigress looked up to you! I wanted to be just like you! And yet you let one simple thing push you over the edge?!"

"I earned that title, Po!" He turned his back on him and walked towards a weakened Shifu. His claws sprang to life as they cackled with Chidori lightning. "And I **WILL **have it!" Naruto eventually sat up, and was stunned. _He copied Sasuke's move?! They weren't joking about him at all! Gotta wear him down! Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu! _Multiple clones poofed in existence as they surrounded Tai Lung. He wasn't that impressed. "Hm..." Plenty of Naruto's kept their guard on Shifu, having him safe. "You're not just gonna kill your own father dude! Then what will that leave you?!"

The Naruto clones then started kicking Tai Lung from all sides, eventually forcing him upwards. "NA-RU-TO-2K-!" Multiple clones appeared from the skies, about to rain down on his opponent. "UZUMAKI BARRAGE!" Fists then rained down on him, as he was forced to try and defend himself. It wasn't doing much since they attacked from all sides, so he curled into a ball, charged himself with lightning, and sent out a shockwave that electricuted all the clones, eliminating them.

Naruto's mental strain hasn't recovered since his journey, and was also still partially exhausted from it. Tai Lung took this chance. He grabbed Naruto by the jumpsuit, and slammed him into a building, cracking it, and still holding a grip on him. His other paw cackled with lightning. "My _father _would have stood up for me! But **NOOO! **He had to listen to the old bastard that is Oogway! Just because he's a Master!" Shifu gripped his arm weakly. "Obeying...your Master...is not...weakness..." "No? Look where listening to your Master has gotten you!" Po punched his face and helped Naruto down.

"No more, Tai Lung! I have to take you down before you steep any lower!" Po and Tai Lung then charged each other, fists raised in the air. They then launched their attacks at each other simultaneously...only Po's punch made contact as Tai Lung's lightning charged paw missed by mere inches. Po has punched the mark that was made by Sasuke's Chidori from earlier, and has temporarily paralyzing him. He went down with a thud, picking up dust. Po looked down at him with saddened eyes. "I'm sorry...I just couldn't let this get out of hand...anymore than it already has..."

A few hours passed, and everyone found it safe enough to return to the Valley. The Five, along with Sasuke, came right behind everyone else, and made their way towards Po and the others. Tigeress and Viper ran up to Po and Naruto respectively, holding them tight. "You guys actually did it! We're so glad that you're okay!" Viper shouted happily. Everyone then looked around, to see Tai Lung nowhere in sight. "But...where is..." "I let him go." "WHAT?!" Everyone shouted, except Sasuke, who only widened his eyes in shock. "But...why?"

Po silently looked towards the sky. "Trying to make him see things our way only pushed him farther into the dark. I let him go, so he can try to see things his own way...without having to hurt anyone. I want us to be friends...willingly. Not because we just want it that way."

Oogway appeared, smiling at Po. "You have shown mercy in front of the enemy. That takes a very big heart, no mater how much it was criticized. Which is why I wanted to tell you this: Po...for as long as you could remember...YOU were the Dragon Warrior." Everyone stood in shock, most noticeably Mr. Ping and Shifu, who's faces were like; "Wha?!" But what Po said next almost knocked them clean out. "I know."

Now...its time for the Great Master Oogway...to express surprise. But after a moment, in turned into a more calming look. "Oh? How so?" Po just shrugged with a smile. "I remember Shifu telling me some time after Tai Lung left. He said: _"Po...the Dragon Warrior is one of honor, respect, and dedication. I took that away from my own son without knowing it. Yet I wonder the result would have been...if he had a soul like yours." _The rest of it took a lot of time and thinking...and peaches. Lots of peaches." Oogway stifled a laugh. The panda was smart, he just didn't try to act like it.

He then turned his attention to Naruto and Sasuke. "As for you boys...if you are truly looking for a new home...then the Valley of Peace shall welcome you with open arms." Naruto cheered, as Sasuke just smirked. "But first...you must learn to adapt to our ways of Kung Fu. You have the potential, just not the form." They were very confused about this. They weren't in the right form?

"Do not know what I mean? Come with me to the Peach Tree then. There is something I would like to give you boys." With this, Oogway lead the way back to the Palace, as everyone followed him in interest. What was he up to?

* * *

**Try to guess! **


	8. Acceptance

_**Chapter Eight. This is the final chapter of arc one: Moving On. More arcs are at hand, so just bear with me, as they have a purpose.**_

_**Let's begin!**_

* * *

Everyone made their way up the thousand steps once again, thinking about what Oogway plans to do. Some were still dumbfounded by Po's decision for letting Tai Lung go free, as he seemed fully content with that. Others, such as Tigress,Viper, and Mr. Ping were just as unsure as the others, but ultimately trusted the panda's judgment and let it go. He still thoroughly believed that Tai Lung can turn back from 20 years of isolation so he could be happy again. He never said it would be an easy task, he just said it would take time. Po was not always that patient a guy, but was willing to be for the sake of order, which was hard to keep.

Naruto and Sasuke were walking alongside each other, discussing each others experiences with the snow leopard. It seemed they both had a pretty hard time, Naruto just lasted longer. Sasuke was not at all jealous, but willing to tune in to what has went down over here. "He...copied...my attack?" He said in disbelief. "Just by looking at it? Looks like Sharingan wasn't needed..." "That guy was a heck of a lot tougher than I thought he'd be. I wasn't gonna give him the chance of copying my moves too. They were right about him."

Crane interjected them in the middle. The boulder thrown at him knocked him for a loop. " Tai Lung doesn't copy anything, but merely a faster learner than most others. Their seems to be a limit along the line, yet no one seems to know when." He held his aching wing as he adjusted his hat. "We apparently weren't good enough to slow him down considerably because of that reason. It was not an easy feat to slow him down as we did." The boys understood this, they were still not used to this kind of thing, as they've only been here a couple of days. There were other things to tend to.

"Sasuke...you said that the Curse Mark activated during your scuffle?" Naruto asked. Sasuke nodded. "Yeah...what of it?" The blond looked down for a moment, then back up at his friend. "You can't use it." "What? Why?" "They lowered it to a whisper. " Don't you get it. Its not just some dark power-up, it messes with your mind, turning you into something you're not. You keep using it, and your mind only gets more clouded and messed up like Orochimaru's." Sasuke flinched, and looked back down to the ground. "This isn't my favorite tattoo either, since I'm the one who has it. Its getting harder to keep my mental state in check. I need to train to keep it repressed." "I'm serious Sasuke. Don't use it anymore. Unless it really is a life or death situation, don't activate it." Sasuke was shaking his head. "But-" "PROMISE me Sasuke. I don't want that thing taking over your mind. Promise that you won't use it unless you absolutely need to." Sasuke rubbed his head at the mental frustration of the subject, but accepted. "Alright."

He chose not to bring up the fact that he knew what Naruto has within him, as he doubted it will do any good. Besides, what he doesn't know won't hurt him...much. He hoped not. There was a thin line of what to reveal and what not to. Besides, there is something else that needs to taken care of.

Naruto was back in his mindscape. He has willed himself to completely shut Nine-Tails out of his mind for the sake of privacy. Now that he released that restraint, and Kurama caught up with the current events...well...

_**Have you gone mad boy?! You faced yourself against someone who certainly could have killed you if he wanted to! You should have let me help! You should have used my power! If you are really thinking about hating me forever, then fine! But I don't want you getting killed for it! Next time you do something like that- **_

"Fur-ball...do you want me to forgive you or not?" He was taken aback by this. _**Uh...well...of course I don't really care that you forgive me or not, because I don't need it...but if you insist-**_"I'm not done. If you truly want me to stop being angry with you...you gotta apologize first." _**Say what?! Why would I apologize to YOU!?**_"If you hadn't taken advantage of my weakness, none of us would even be here in this new place. But since I'm kicked out for good, might as well make the best of it." _**Oh my...its finally happened...you grew a brain!**_"I'm serious. We're stuck with each other for the rest of my life, so we can't spend it like what I tried to do. So just apologize for taking advantage of my moment of weakness, and we'll call it even."

Kurama was now having an issue of pride on his paws. _**I am the Nine-Tails...I don't apologize for anything.**_"There's a first time for everything." _**Damn it! Fine. I...I'm...I'm...uh...sssssssorr...sor...sor...Damn...this shouldn't be so difficult!**_"I'm waiting ." _**Alright already! I'm sorry! There! I said it, you spoiled brat! Happy?! Satisfied?! **We surely are satisfied. Thank you for asking. **You stay out of this you old turtle! **_

The group eventually made their way to the top of the stairs, mental conversations making time pass by fast. Tigeress opened the doors, letting everyone is...until she reached Po. "I don't know why you did what you did, Po. But I'm trusting you so that this doesn't end badly. I'm only curious as to what Tai Lung might do next, since he's lost his right to obtain the Dragon Scroll. But what I don't get is..if you knew you were the Dragon Warrior...why not read the scroll?"

"Not very sure about that. But something in my mind is telling me that its not the time, not yet. For now, I have to wait. Gotta trust my gut, y'know?" Tigeress shook her head humorously. "You mean the same gut that's asking for food every time you're awake? Or asleep?" "Like I said, trust my gut." She playfully punched his arm, which still hurt quite a bit. They eventually made their way into the Hall of Heroes, still wondering what the mystical Oogway was up to. They saw him rummaging through a chest of some sort, and then take something out of it. Their was something shining in his one paw, and something shady in the other. They then decided to follow him to the Peach Tree.

Just then, Viper slithered around Naruto's leg, then up around his shoulders. He shivered at the movement, but not much. "Oh...hey Viper. What are you doing?" She kept a focused look on him, trying to see into his eyes for answers to her inner question. "I never truly got to ask...but why are you here? Why are the two of you here? It's been bugging me ever since you got here." Naruto was suddenly nervous. Was he really? "Uh...it was...just for the sake of travel, y'know? Seeing the sights, meeting new friends-" "Don't lie to me." She said that so sternly that it took him aback. So that's how it works, she isn't deadly...unless provoked. She must have sensed his inner turmoil and wanted to do something about it.

He sighed. "Fine...long story short...I did something I shouldn't have done...and they didn't like it at all. Since they were eager to get rid of us, they used that as a stepping stone for that reason. I have a power...a dangerous power that I haven't learned to control..." Tigeress was suddenly very interested in this conversation. He...can't be...right? "I lashed out at people with it...because they pushed me too far...and they made sure we paid for it."

Sasuke joined in. "My story isn't much different. They were ready to kick me out too. I'm part of a prideful clan who has been despised for who knows how long. They feared us...and we paid the price for it." Shifu looked at Sasuke carefully. "You were exiled from your own home? Surely your parents would never approve of that?" That question made them both stare at the ground for a very extended time. Viper took notice of this, and gasped. "Dear gods...they're orphans. They forced orphans to leave their own home..." Everyone stared at the two of them when this was revealed.

"The higher ups just didn't want us around. The vote was either exile...or execution." This made everyone deathly silent. Except Viper. "That's...that's completely and utterly vile! They would kill children just because they accidently broke some rules?!" Sasuke nodded. "You'd be surprised at how often that happens...the rules were strict, and they were sometimes unfair...but we were obedient anyway. And look where that got us." Monkey approached them. "You seriously couldn't get anyone else to take you in? You didn't have anyone to take care of either of you? Teachers? Guardians? Maybe older siblings? Like an older brother or-"

"I have no brother." Sasuke said this coldly and calmly. Everyone took this as a sign that Sasuke's family was not to be mentioned carelessly. "My clan is on the brink of extinction because of him. I wished to kill him, but that would only sink me lower. I changed my mind to stick with Naruto. I never want to see that man again." It's official. That is a VERY sensitive subject. So they made sure never to mention it unless he allows it.

Naruto kept his eyes on the ground. "At least he had a family...I can't even remember myself having one at all. I...started with nothing. I made friends though. I made many friends, had special times together, always willing to go through anything for them. But...that's over now. All because I made a stupid mistake, I have nothing except this picture." He took the picture out of his sack, and showed all of his friends and teachers standing there together. "I had a great life despite what I've been through...now I'm back to nothing. A nobody." Po suddenly realized that there was something dreadfully similar about the two of them. _You're a nobody, panda! You hear me?! Nobody!_

Then he said something. "Let's just join Oogway at the Peach Tree. I think I know what he's planning to do. And I mean I _think. _I can't be exact about this." At Po's suggestion, they went to follow Oogway to the Peach Tree.

There were silent thoughts going through their minds, as they tried to comprehend why anyone would ever do what the boys just described. It sounds like a hidden conspiracy, but why against children? Is there that much hidden potential in the both of them that they were considered a threat? Not that they liked it, but if that was the case, why let them live? It just didn't add up. But there wasn't any point in thinking about it at the moment.

They eventually found Oogway standing near the tree, looking down upon the Valley. He noticed the group there as peach petals floated around him. "Lovely day, isn't it? It seems to have calmed down for a while now." Naruto figured it out. Oogway wasn't weird, he was one of a kind. Cryptic beyond measure, and wise beyond dreams. But he admitted to himself that he wasn't without flaws. "Can't we just get on with whatever we're doing?"

Oogway turned around, and took out two stones. One was shining yellow like the sun, not as bright though. The other was a very dark shade of purple. They glowed as he handed them to Naruto and Sasuke respectively. " Take these Soul Stones as a gift from me." They were very confused...again. "Soul Stones?"

"Indeed. They have a special purpose that not even I could comprehend. But now that I've met the two of you...I believe I understand now. These stones connect to a person's inner aura, and changes their form to something that resembles that aura. It seems that only the two of you can use them." Sasuke then asked this: "Are you saying we should commit to an identity change?"

"It is entirely your choice, young Uchiha. Besides, if you find at a point where the form isn't necessary at a certain situation, you can always change back and forth at will." Naruto took all of this in, as he looked at Sasuke. "You're a smart guy. What do we do?" Sasuke took a minute to think, then answered honestly.

"We were evicted from our home forever, Naruto. Everyone seems to agree that our place is now here, learning from the best on a different fighting style. We learn that style, to help protect our new home, to adjust to living here. If changing myself into something new that doesn't contradict my character can help do that...then so be it." He gripped the stone, closed his eyes, and focused. The Dark Stone emitted the glow around his body, and encased him in crystal that no one could see through. After a few moments, the crystal disappeared, and a new figure lied there, wondering. "Did it work?"

Crane tipped his hat. "Just to be sure, look at your arms...or should I say...wings?" _Wings? _Sasuke looked at himself, and stood in surprise. He had feathers all over his body, including his new wings, but not on his new talons. He also had a yellow colored beak, and the top of his head had feathers that was still the same shape as his human form's hair. He also noticed that he looked into a puddle of water, his Sharingan was active. " But...I don't remember-"

"Its just an effect from the transformation, Sasuke. Your Sharingan can no longer drain your chi, period. Its also been enhanced with the vision of a hawk's. Indeed, you have great pride in your race, a loyalty you refuse to break, and special eyes that can induce keen ability and illusions. Your Dark Stone has equipped you with the body of a black hawk." Sasuke also noticed that he now had white training pants, and he now has a blue vest that covered most of wings. The Uchiha insignia was still on the back of his vest. He touched his beak for a brief moment. "Forget learning to fight, i'm gonna have to retrain myself to eat with this thing. (Looks at tail feathers, swishing them side to side.) Hm...not bad. (Turns to Naruto) Alright, go on. Your turn."

Naruto hesitated, but was going to go on with it. _**Just do it, boy.**_Naruto didn't argue with Kurama. He gripped the Sun Stone, and closed his eyes. The thing glowed yellow, and a yellow crystal encased his body. Despite the color, you still couldn't see through it. The crystal then disappeared, leaving the figure standing there. " Am I done?" Shifu facepalmed. "You gotta open your eyes, boy." "Oh."

He opened his eyes, and looked around. "Huh..I don't feel any differe-woah!" He brought up his hand...or should we say...paw? His orange colored fur covered most of his body, except for his white muzzle. He also felt for his face, his whiskers...he could actually feel them now. He now wore a yellow sweater covering most of his arms, and black training pants. His eyes were still their ocean blue. He was not wearing shoes anymore though. Guess his yellow hair wasn't coming in, oh well. He then felt something brush his legs. "Okay, what was that?!" Sasuke facepalmed. "That's your tail, you idiot!" Naruto froze for a second, and looked behind him. There was indeed a tail sticking out from his pants, also orange furred except a white tip at the end. He swished his tail around, and felt it. "So...fluffy..." _**Not only that, but now that you have a kitsune body...you'll be able to adapt to my own power much better than before. **_

Oogway smiled. "Yes. Your fox form is intact with your personality. You are always looking for a sense of adventure, having paws that know how to swipe things quickly, and may I say, a very fun-loving, mischievous trickster with a love for pranks. But most of all, an undying loyalty to his friends, and those are bonds you want to keep forever."

Naruto was flattered at this discription. He then wanted to test something, and tried to summon shadow clones. They did not appear. " Well...that doesn't work anymore." When he thought about the Rasengan, it almost immediately appeared in his paw. "Woah! I...I just thought about it, and it just happened!"

"That is not your only ability, you have also gathered the powers of instant transportation to small distances." Naruto was dumbdfound for a moment. Tigeress sighed. "He means you can teleport short distances at a time." Naruto brightened up. "You're kidding!" When he thought about a location, he teleported behind Po. "This(poof) is the best power (poof) ever! (Poof!)

"Knock it off!" Sasuke yelled. Naruto smirked, then teleported again. Sasuke almost screeched. Not only does he have the body of a hwak now, he apparently also has the vocal cords. "This is going to be a pain in the beak...I can already sense it."

Naruto stopped teleporting, and appeared next to Oogway. " So cool!" "Indeed it is. But there is still one thing I have to do." He walked over to Shifu, and handed him his staff. The small Master gripped it, not understanding. "Master?" Oogway smiled sadly. "Do not pretend to not know what is going to happen, Shifu. You'll only hurt yourself further." Everyone looked at the turtle in confusion. "Its truly been the time of my life to meet you all, and spend time with you. But...its time we part ways."

There was a dead silence, as Naruto had no idea what's happening. Po was the same way. "Wait...what's going on?" The petals began to swirl around Oogway. "My time here...has come to an end. Your journies continue...without me." Naruto ran up to him. "What?! No, you can't! You saved our lives, and gave us a path to a new life! You can't just leave us here!" The turtle looked at the young fox honestly. "Everyone here has accepted my departure...except you. Its not your fault. Your heart likes to connect to anyone you see as a friend, someone to share a bond with. You wanted to bond with me, despite the short time we've known each other. However...if you truly want to know what I have to tell you...then listen well." Oogway then looked at Sasuke first.

"Sasuke. Your heart wishes for a change, yet darkness still has a hold over you. Take care to not let it overrule you. Do not let it become you. Otherwise...you'll be many times worse than Tai Lung could begin to be." Sasuke widened his eyes. He can be WORSE,if he isn't careful? "But...if you truly believe that you can change...try to see what your heart wants, and eventually...you'll know what's truly important to you."

He turned to Naruto. "Young one...your heart was crushed because the place you call home has cast you out. I ask you to always remember the good things they've done for you, and keep them in your heart. You looking for a new home, doesn't mean you forget your old one. Who knows? While you had no choice but to leave one family...you might find the next one plenty of ways away." Naruto looked at the Five, Shifu, Jhong, and Po. _New...family? _

He then to Po, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Po...these boys are special, and so are you and Tigeress. All of you are special no matter what anyone says. You guide each other. Nurture one another. Believe in one another." He finally turned to Shifu. "Promise me you'll nurture them, Shifu. I count on you to fill the role of Grandmaster. You are the teacher they need, I know it." Shifu wiped tears away. "Master...I could never truly fill your place...but...I will do my best. I promise you."

Oogway nodded gently. "Very good, very good." He stood next to the Peach tree, and bowed. "Never stop believing...just...believe..." At his words, the peach petals covered him fully as he glowed blue and closed his eyes. The petals whisked him away in a bright light, as he fully disappeared from where he stood. The petals stopped moving, and just gently floated to the ground.

Po stood next to Naruto, who was just staring at the ground, tearfully. "You alright buddy?" Naruto wiped his tears away. "Po...Oogway saved Sasuke and me. He took us here, to start over. He let us stay here because it was right. I...I didn't even get a chance to say thanks to him..." Po smiled. "Hey, don't beat yourself up about it. You trusted him to take you guys here. Thats silent gratitude right there. You didn't have to say anything...because he already knew." Naruto was taken aback. Silent...gratitude? Trusting Oogway was thanks all on its own?

Sasuke gripped Naruto's shoulder. "Naruto...Kakashi told us to stick together no matter what. We are all we have left if the Leaf. He did tell us that China was a place for us to start over. Well...this is it." Naruto looked at his now hawk-like friend, then Po, then everyone else. They all looked like they would support his adapting here. After a while, he smiled.

"Home..."

* * *

_Silence filled the fog as the figures walked back to their trashed hideout. Some members were silent, others were like "What happened to our stuff?!" Yet the one in the middle was the calmest of all. But very disappointed. _

_"I expected this kind of thing from Deidara at least...but not Itachi. So...he's a traitor to the Akatsuki... so its true..." A course of action needed to be taken... _

* * *

_**There! Arc One: Moving on; is finished. All the other arcs may be longer or shorter, it depends. I'll change the summary to better fit some things. Next Arc is: Settling In.**  
_

_**So...tell me what you think. Because the many views I got tells me that you like it, but I'm not very sure. I'm self-conscious sometimes. Review, Favorite, and Follows are very much appreaciated and noticed. I can take constructive criticism. Farewell for now!**_


	9. JustSettling In, Kinda

**Fair warning: Things are getting shorteraround here. Since it's just the Settling In arc, there's only gonna be like three to four chapters total. Chapter length will vary.**

* * *

After a month, things have steadily calmed down around the Valley. The decision was made that the two boys were to stay with them. Oogway's passing made Shifu the new Grandmaster of the Jade Palace. Po was discovered as the Dragon Warrior, which he apparently knew about all along somehow. He was apparently smarter than most people believes him to be. Not first time that looks overtook the substance.

There is also the matter of the boys adjusting to their new bodies, fox and hawk. Naruto is trying to learn to run on all fours(which to him, was a lot easier than he thought it would be), and Sasuke will try learning how to fly. There was also the matter of him eating with a beak...it was a lot more awkward than it needed to be. You can thank Crane for that.

"Come on, Sasuke. You don't have fingers anymore, so you're gonna have to find another way to feed yourself without anyone's help." Crane said one day, putting on his hat and blue scarf. Sasuke huffed, unknowingly poofing up his feathers. "Believe me, I would rather starve than be fed like a helpless child." Crane sweatdropped. "I...wouldn't go _that _far."

"Why would you bother to eat like this anyway?" "Hey, you know how hard it is to grip chopsticks with no fingers? Its...difficult. Look, its easy. You just gotta peck it, and hold it in your mouth. You can chew if you'd like. And the rest is pretty obvious." Sasuke shrugged as he looked at Naruto. He was eating a bowl of dumplings that Po whipped up just for him. "How come you don't have to relearn how to eat?" "I have canine teeth now. If anything, eating just got slightly easier. Besides, you can still grip a spoon. And...other things..."

Sasuke stayed silent for the moment. He didn't want to say that what Naruto said was inappropriate on a hidden level. There are women here, you know. Anyway, he came to eventually handle eating without fingers, and adapting to doing things with wings. Surprisingly, flying came naturally to him. This made Crane a far more efficient flight teacher. There was also the matter of them training. A matter Naruto did not hesitate to bring up.

"Let's get to the Training Hall!" Just then, Viper slithered in, wearing a very stern look. "Oh no you don't. That is way too advanced for either of you to be taking place in." "Viper come on! I can totally handle it!" She wore an "uh-huh" look on her face. "I don't want you injuring yourself...again." Naruto rubbed his head, as it was bandaged from a previous incident a few hours before. "Everyone was surprised that those Swinging clubs didn't knock you unconscious. Most don't usually get up as quickly as you did, despite the pain still very apparent."

Sasuke smirked. "Believe me when I say that he's taken much more damage than that. Witness right here." Naruto stuck his tongue at him, knowing that it wasn't really a compliment. He was saying that Naruto wouldn't have to take so much damage if he'd just think things through. Having a healing factor didn't except him from serious injuries. Just then, Po, Monkey, Mantis, Tigeress and Shifu walked in, separately. Naruto looked at Po. "Hey Po, how was _your _first time in the training hall?"

Po, Tigeress, and Shifu looked at each other, awkwardly, then back at Naruto. "Uh..."

**_(Flash) _**

Young Po was just making his way around the Jade Palace, with walking alongside him. He was eager to actually try beginners for kung fu. Mostly to see Tigress. She's been hurting for a bit ever since Tai Lung turned on them. Po has kept her happy still, but he knew the pain was there behind her face. Its a mask he always wears in front of the occasional mean children. He eventually reached Tigeress' room, who began to see him coming.

" Hiya Po!" She waved. Po flinched at the look of her paws. They were heavily bandaged, with stains of blood clearly visible, but not soaking through. She's been punching ironwood trees so that she would be able to make her paws stronger. She wanted to be stronger for protecting Po, and to prove herself to Shifu. Po shook off his disturbed look so he can look calm before her. "Hi Tigeress. I'm here." With that calm introduction over, they made their way to the not completely built training hall.

There, Po stood before the Adversary, just staring at it for a couple of seconds. He then looked at Shifu and Tigeress. "What do I do now?" She giggled, then stood before the Adversary, gentely pushing Po aside. "It's easy, Po. All you have to do is hit it. It just keeps bouncing back." She breathed in, held her fist back and(CHA!) punched it with medium power. It was forced back against the wall, then bounced back tothe two cubs. "Now you try."

Po stood in front of the Adversary, looking back at Mr. Ping and Shifu, both giving him an encouraging smile. So he breathed in, held his fist back...and punched it as hard as he could. " Yeah! I did-UGH!" It unfortunately bounced too hard off of the wall, and it came back to hit the cub with ten times the force. He was knocked back a couple of feet, and laid motionless.

"PO!" The other three ran over to him quickly, helping him up. He groaned while rubbing his mouth. "Your mouth is bleeding, son! Listen, don't touch it. We'll get you cleaned up real quick!" Mr. Ping panicked slightly. Tigeress found something on the ground, and picked it up. "Is this...a tooth?"

Po popped to life as he saw the tooth in her paw, then licked his mouth. A tooth was definitely missing from it. "Woah...that must have hurt a lot..." He realized that was the first tooth he's lost. After the others stared at him worriedly, he smiled. "Let's go again!"

_**(Flash) **_

" Um...you know...it was...um...decent?" Sasuke read him clearly. "You completely got wiped out by the Adversary, did you?"

"He STILL gets wiped out by it." Mantis chuckled. Po slapped his face. "Sure Mantis. TELL them that!" "But...I just did-", " IT WAS SARCASM!"

Naruto resisted bursting out laughing. Po noticed. "Come on guys! Don't embarrass me in front of the boys!" Tigeress tapped his back as a sign of pity. "Its far too late for that, my friend." Po only sweatdropped.

Shifu coughed to break the awkward silence. "Well...that's over with...let's get you boys to work." Naruto shrugged. "Anything. I can totally handle anything you can dish out."

"Clean the halls." "ARE YOU MAD?!- I mean..sure. I can do that, pretty sure that I can sweep up the Hall of Warriors. Just myself...and a hall of history..." "You can't touch the weapons." "Fine." Visibly still bored, but not willing to sit in one place, Naruto was out of the kitchen. Everyone looked back at Sasuke, who shrugged his wings. "What? I have scouting to do, don't really feel like cleaning."

Sasuke put up his things and also walked out of the kitchen. Crane sighed as he calmly followed him. Not that it was necessary, as the boy has adapted to his flying quite quickly. If he was given wings, he's going to use them well. Naruto made his way to the Hall of Warriors, Po following behind. Oh...won't that be fun? Maybe it will.

All but those two left the palace for the time being. Private matters that those two can absolutely NOT participate in. It's for their own safety. Which confused them. Who's safety was at risk here? Probably because...you know...their personalities match a little to close to mischief. Monkey was bad enough.

Naruto busily swept the hall, taking a glimpse at the various works of art here. Po quietly observed, twiddling fingers awkwardly. "So...how are things?" "Decent." "Decent eh? That's good...question?" "Yeah Po?" He just about made it halfway across the floor, almost finished. "You said you're a good prankster. Are you better than Monkey?" Naruto froze as his eyes turned to lines. "Are you serious dude?...Of COURSE I am!" That...is to be proven at a later time.

Po smiled at his friends confidence. But he sensed danger in an instant. "Heads up!" He pushed him forward as he jumped backwards. A hammer was seen thrown in their direction, then yanked back. There was the Lin Kuei again. Wonder what they want...

"Well well...what do we have here? The panda and the...uh...who are you?" Hei Lang said curiously. A vein popped out of the fox's forehead. "You don't remember me?! Stupid mutts!" "Ah, it's you. You look different."

Naruto flared up. "Yeah its me! You totally kicked my ass last time! But I'm ready for round two!" Po tried to keep him back for a moment."Not that I don't trust you...but what happened last time you just charged into a fight?" He instantly lost his fury flare. "I totally got my butt kicked..." "So what done do now?" "Try to think things through first before-GAH!" They dodged another hammer barrage and landed onto the ground. "Hey! I wasn't done talking!"

Po skidded backwards while glaring at the wolves. "There is no way we're just gonna let you trash the place when we _just _cleaned it! How about you try the hammer thing again! See what happens!" The wolves gladly complied, striking at them from all sides. Po's surprisingly decent reflexes caught every single one of them.

"Now, Naruto!" The fox manages tl comply by hopping on every one of the wolves heads, then Po would launch their own hammers at them, knocking them out. Naruto then kicked their leader in the face, then dodged the hammer at his face. That knocked out Hei Lang. Naruto landed on his feet, fluffing his tail. "Ha! How fast was that! We should probably tie them up and wait for the others. Not a blemish anywhere in the room!"

CRACK! Naruto's ears drooped as he heard the crash. "That wasn't...the Urn of Whispering Warriors...was it?" Po shook it off. "Relax man. I break that all the time." "Really? How many times?" Po sweatdropped. "Too many."

Silence. Awkward silence.

"We should probably clean up again just to be safe." Po slowly nodded. That...wasn't so bad. Which only means it will get harder. Or more stupid looking. Or more annoying. Or worse...ALL OF THE ABOVE!

..Nah. What are the chances of that?


	10. Noodles And A Prank Declaration

**I changed my mind. The Settling In arc shall only be two chapters, this being the second one. Sorry about that. Probably gonna change along the way, can't always be certain. **

**And the amount of followers and favorites...wow. I just feel soproud of myself for that. Views are approaching three thousand! In two weeks! Amazing! Just a suggestion: Tell me what you think. Review a few times. This only has one. Just saying.**

**Let's begin!****  
**

* * *

Well...since no one seemed to notice the new mess they made, which also meant they didn't notice that There was a break in their home, Po and Naruto felt like they were in the clear. Sure, something got broken, but it always does, so no one really didn't care so much anymore. Unless you were Shifu... but other than that.

Naruto figured as long as you never talk about a silly situation that doesn't prove significant, it will eventually be forgotten. But past events in his life disregarded that theory. Not everything is as unimportant as they may seem. But they don't always get it the first time around. That kind of understanding takes a very long time to build.

The days rolled out as usual, the Masters would spend their day in the Training Hall, and then help the boys adapt to the humble home. Po and Viper were more that happy to assist there. Sasuke...like Tigeress sometimes...was indifferent about it. There were things they had to be introduced to around here. Once again, Naruto was the one interested. Po decided that he and Viper will manage Naruto's tour, as Sasuke went elsewhere, still trying to get used to his wings.

Okay, about Naruto's altered form. He figured out he can teleport, sure. But it wasn't significant enough to cross great distances. So he figured he'd just hold off on that until he actually needed it. Po also figured out this apparent weakness in this power, and planned to do something about it soon. He and the Five have...special abilities that distinguished them from other Masters. But that can wait for now.

We can get to Sasuke's abilities now. Based on a diagnosis from Crane, his Fire Style was completely unequipped in hawk form. In exchange, his Sharingan and Lightning can be used without a significant amount of effort. He literally kept his spinning eyes on all night just to test it, and it was kinda true. As for his lightning...hehe...we're gonna find out what he does with the lightning soon enough.

The reason why Po and Viper were chosen to give out a tour is that they were the most people friendly. No one questions it, they just let it roll. There were plenty of instances were their welcoming attitudes ended up with new friendships. And there were very few things that overruled friendships.

Anyway, the folks over here were definitely friendlier than most at his old home. It was difficult to adapt to, because he was so used to people ridiculing him and bringing him down. So to speak...it was ironic. He always wanted positive attention to be brought upon him. Now that he had it...he wasn't so sure about it.

"Hey little buddy. It feels like you have something on your mind." Po said to the kitsune. He snapped out of it and looked up. "No. I'm fine. But where are we going?" "Just going over to dad's for a second. You been introduced to the fighting ways, the bandits, the folks...now all you need to do is try his food." Naruto felt rude for not doing so earlier. He was...busy. So he just wanted to be a friendly visitor and do so. But that's another thing Viper learned about Naruto. He may not like it, but he can go a very long time without food. That also seemed like he adapted to that. A child...shouldn't have to adapt like that. What was he hiding?

"Oh dude, here we are." They arrived in record time, as Mr. Ping just came out. "Oh Hi boys! And lady. What brings you here today?" Po walked over to the goose and whispered to him for a moment. He then gasped in comedic horror. "He never tried them?!" Po nodded. "And for a MONTH. Sad, isn't it?" Mr. Ping instantly ran over to the kitsune and pulled him in with surprising strength. "You poor boy! Come in! Come in!"

It was fair to say that poor Naruto doesn't have a clue as to what just happened. It was also fair to say that Viper sweatdropped because they were being a little too dramatic about noodles.

The goose pulled the fox over to a separate table, and ran into his kitchen. About two to five minutes later, he came back with a steaming bowl of noodles placed in front of him. Also made sure to mind the other customers. But placed his focus back on Naruto. "Here you go! You just cannot be the only one in the Valley who hasn't tried them!"

Naruto looked at Viper. "Did Sasuke ever-" "As dull as the child is, even he tried them before you did." Okay...THAT was an outrage! So Naruto slowly picked up his chopsticks and gripped some noodles. After an eager look from the panda-goose duo, he sipped the noodles into his muzzle.

He froze instantly. This...was...absolutely...FANTASTIC! He has never tasted anything so amazing in his life! Even better than-WAIT! Did he DARE to say those dreaded words he thought he'd never say? He doesn't want to say it, but he'll think it to rid himself of the uncomfortable feeling in his head. _This...is better than Ichiraku's...I'm actually thinking that...I never thought this day would come...like...ever. T_here was the matter of moving on...guess that includes favorite foods...right? Only one thing to think now.

"This...is..." "Awesome? I know." Po said with a somewhat smug smile. Naruto nodded slowly. After another moment of silence, he began hungrily eating the noodles before him. The other three found this a very funny reaction. Mr. Ping would clean up later. Po laughed at a hidden revelation. "Ha! He eats just like I do when I get hungry."

Viper put her tail to her lips, giggling at the young one's reaction. Mr. Ping, on another hand, was proud of this. "So Naruto, I see your reaction. But what's your response?" The fox licked his lips, looked down to the elder goose, and held his bowl out to him.

"Please sir...may I have some more?"

What made that sentence funny was some noodle juice dripped off one of his whiskers, he was in anime chibi form, with sparkling eyes, and a wagging tail.

Mr. Ping folded his wings and adjusted his little hat. "As I thought."

Naruto smiled, but then heard something mumbling in the corner of the shop. He saw a croc fiddling with his food. He went over to talk to him. "Hey dude, you okay?"

"Oh...nothing much. My boss was in a very sour mood, and kicked me out for the day. Being a bandit shouldn't be so dramatic!" Naruto lowered his ears. "Bandit? You know that kind of stuff is wrong, right?" "I don't always want to. It's just the way I spend my day. I'm not saying it's a good way, but it's ours." Naruto sighed.

"What's your name?" "Gahri. Most people will mistake my name as Gary or something. It gets frustrating." Naruto sighed heavier. "I gotta go. If you need someone to talk to...I'm your guy." Gahri looked up to him. "You...mean it?" After two seconds, he started hugging the fox, pinning his arms. "No ones ever taken out their time for me before!" Naruto felt award, but smiled anyway. "Sure thing, man. But...you may want to ease up a bit."

Some of the folks managed to see his predicament, looking weirdly at them. Naruto sweatdropped.

"Seriously dude. Stop hugging me."

* * *

Back at the Jade Palace, the trio made their way back there, as Naruto passed by another awkward moment. Po seemed pretty glad that it didn't turn south. Viper seemed happy that he really liked the food.

Naruto came through the doors first, as he stepped over a conviently placed invisible trip wire, and carelessly said "Trap." Po had no idea what he meant by that, until it was too late. He touched the trip wire, and a moment later, a frying pan filled with mud nailed him in the face.

Monkey came out laughing. "Oh man! I totally nailed you Po! Ya got something on your face!" The pan slowly slid off the panda's face, as he wiped the mud off his face. "Very funny dude. You are SO gonna pay for this!"

"That'll be the day! But...I'm surprised Naruto was able to see through that so easily."

"Please! As if you were gonna get me with that. I'm not a sucker, Monkey. Po may be a little bit, but not me!"

"Hey. Standing right behind you! Can hear every word your saying!" This was ignored, as Monkey balanced himself on his tail, staring the fox down. "Is that so? You think you can compete with me?" Naruto shrugged. "I don't think I can compete. I know I can win."

Sasuke flew into the palace, taking a look at the situation. "Oh boy...here it comes..."

Viper turned towards Naruto. "Not trying to burst your bubble sweetie, but Monkey's been doing this kind of thing for quite a while. You may be at a disadvantage." Sasuke scoffed loudly, prompting them to turn to him. "Naruto? Disadvantage for pranking? Ha, as if! You have no idea that there was an entire prank club dedicated to bringing him down. They couldn't even _touch him._"

Monkeg was suddenlyinterested, and looked back at the boy. "So...you seem to be a pro pranker, eh?" Naruto nodded. "You don't look like am ameteur yourself. So...what's it gonna be?" "Since we have to close house soon, we only have time for one prank. It should be a closing off kind of prank. How about it?"

"You got yourself a prank battle. Who's the target? No wait! It shall be random. No spoilers." They both nodded suspiciously, and turned away from each other in a western like fashion. Po and Viper looked at each other, knowing one thing. Someone's pride was going to get wounded. Really badly.

After a few silent moments of planning, the two met up with each other, eyeing each other suspiciously. "So...Monkey...what'd you do?"

"Glued Mantis to the floor...and kept him in a glass. He's not going anywhere. What'd YOU do?" "Oh...you'll find out in about two seconds."

"Delivery for Master Monkey!" Messenger Zeng shouted as he flew in, carrying a package. Monkey caught it, and was puzzled as he began to open it. "Who'd send me a pack-" BOOM! Completely unexpected to the primate, the pack in the box exploded in a spray of orange, blasting his face. Naruto and Zeng began to laugh hysterically. "I set up a paint bomb in that box and got Zeng to deliver it! You totally fell for it!"

Monkey stood in shock. He was...actually pranked without seeing it? How can this be?! After a while, he began to chuckle calmly. "You know...I never had a worthy opponent to match me and my pranking skills...apparently you are the first." Naruto dusted off his shoulder. "I believe I am."

Monkey's eyes then turned playfully serious. "Since you just moved in, I was gonna take it easy on you. But now you've proven yourself to be a worthy pranking adversary...so now I will have to reveal more of my aresnal to teach you who the superior pranker is." Naruto fluffed his tail, and leaned into Monkey's face.

"Bring it on bro. Bring it on!" After a moment or two, they stood up fully. "We should probably clean up this paint first." "Yeah that seems to be the best thing."

* * *

**Thats the end of the Settling In arc. Guess its basically just a two part chapter thing. Whatever. Anyway...the next arc shall be "The Aura Force and the Crush." Hope that helps in some way.**

**(Shenron Voice) Farewell for now!**


	11. A Few Suspicions, That's All

**I updated! Sorry if I messed up in some places, tryin' to learn. Just trying to get better, is all.**

* * *

There was the distinct sounds of utter silence as the Leaf was just that. Totally silent, it was. Things have been silent ever since a certain blonde ninja was cast out of this village. Not many have realized just how much he made the village stand out and shine. Eliminate that shine and you get nothing but complete dullness. The ones who actually wanted him gone now just stayed quiet about their day. There so thought to be menace was gone for good, so there was nothing for them to hate or despise intensely for no good reason.

So much for the load of crap the kid had to go through. He's done more good for this village than as much damage as they feared he would do. Very few times has he very violently acted out of term, but that's because they sometimes pushed him too far into the wrong direction. Yet that part was never revealed anyone whatsoever. They didn't care about consequences, they just wanted to see his suffering please them.

As for Sasuke..There really wasn't a difference on his sides of issues. Just like Naruto, he was one of the least favorable citizens of the Leaf Village. Not that he can even do anything about it. Their hatred of Uchihas dates back many generations ago, when they feared even the slightest bit of betrayal towards them, and they were punished for it. The Uchiha were considered the evil ones, for all the care the Leaf has for them. Itachi was one for honor, no matter how much grief it brings him. But he made it clear that he wasn't through with Danzo. Honor didn't mean make the Uchiha evil, the village did that themselves.

And what better way to spit on their honor than to pick on the last of them that truly mattered? Yep, Sasuke was a target of constant threats that wasn't totally as severe as Naruto's. The main difference is, he didn't take that kind of crap sitting down. No. Some kid wants to push him, Sasuke causes a fight. Someone badmouths his clan, it turns into a swearing match. It didn't matter if it was from fellow student or not. No one messes with him without recoil.

There was that serious centerpiece between the two of they were the most hated in the village, they got along much better than then...THEN...they have the gall to keep them alive as _weapons. _Sasuke's Sharingan eyes would be a major asset to the Leafs military force. The Nine Tails within Naruto would serve as a main source of defense. If There was one thing Kakashi knew: If they thought for a second that they were time be used as mere tools in future conflicts, they would have left a long time ago.

Heh. Danzo made that day a heck of a lot sooner. And he somewhat enjoyed the look of frustration in Itachi's face. He also didn't seem to mind that he just cut down on potential military power. He was just glad that two potential threats were out of the way. But now he had to keep out of reach of a very suspicious Tsunade and Jiraiya. No doubt they are trying to connect this with him by any means. The only thing he could was stick to the shadows until otherwise. It's what he does best, being dishonest for his village.

There was another matter being disclosed about the exile. This left Team 7 down to two members. Kakashi and Sakura themselves. Many thought that this was a very unfavourable position for the both of them. But no one was willing to fill the two empty spots of teammates. So every time that they were sent on a mission, someone from the other teams had to fill in to make the mission a success. Sakura never thought that she would miss their constant banter as much as she did now. It was too quiet for it to be enjoyable now.

Who was she kidding? She missed them both dearly, it crushed her. Kakashi was just as hopeless. He knew There was no cheering her up from this. Not after all of these stressful events happening one at a time at such a fast rate that she's unable to keep up with. She thought she'd lose them because of their strained friendship that was growing ever more apparent as time passed. Right when they patched things up, they're charged as murderers for some unexplained reasons. No details were made clearly because of this.

There just wasn't a way she was just going to drop this without figuring out why it happened. She had no idea why, but she felt as if someone was expecting this kind of thing to happen at some point. And they totally took advantage of that moment of weakness. This she was sure about. Okay Shikamaru suspected it before ANYONE. And he also suspects his father knew something about it. But he wouldn't talk. No one would try it that far. They were too afraid of the unforeseen consequences.

Kakashi was one filled with extreme frustration and worry. He KNEW Danzo had a hand in this! He just did! But there was no way he was going to be able to prove it all on his own. Danzo knew that there was suspicion being placed on him, and kept calmly denying any involvement in the matter. And ANBU has kept anyone from questioning him further. This was really a stressing situation.

Jiraiya and Tsunade were the most suspicious of Danzo than anyone else. The first Sannin was so down about Naruto that he didn't even tend to his "research"...much. He thought it would make him feel better. It didn't. Although Tsunade was completely glad that Jiraiya has toned down the foolishness, what she didn't like was how it got shut off in the first place. None of them were happy about this, none at all. But how she was taking this was howsoever takes most stressful situations...she yelled at a few people. Then she had a nice...five-ten bottles of sake. She not so good at dealing with stress as she thought she was.

All she can wonder is what that child is doing now...

* * *

"I want to wake him up." Sasuke said one morning, as he and the group stood around the sleeping fox, who looked completely peaceful...minus the obvious drool out of his mouth.

"Um...Sasuke? Are you so sure about that?" Jhong said, the wolf clearly nervous. Viper and Shifu clearly agreed...though Mantis, Monkey and Po were very eager to see what he does.

"Trust me. These are one of those things I enjoy doing. He will totally wake up with a burst of energy like he always does. All he needs is the motivation." The hawk smirked slyly.

If having cold water dumped on your orange fur counts as waking up with energy, then Tigeress clearly won a wager. Because Monkey woke her up like that once...he almost lost an arm five seconds later.

"AH! DAMN IT THATS SO COLD!" Naruto yelled out as every part of his body shivered. He stood there with dampered fur and chattering teeth. This was one of those ways he dislikes starting the day. Needless to say, that made him mad.

"Alright. Who did that?" Sasuke boringly pointed at Mantis without anyone noticing. "So it was _you _Mantis?" The insect jumped as he heard his name. "Me?! No! No it was Sasuke, not me!"

"Naruto, I assure you I have no idea what he's talking about." "LIAR!"

"Enough yelling, please." Shifu said calmly. He woke up with a bit of a sore throat, so yelling was definitely undesirable for him. Some herbal tea would soothe that for a couple of hours. But he had to get his request out first. "If you don't mind. Boys, follow me." He walked out of the room slowly, as the others went their separate ways. Mantis gave Sasuke the "You're seriously bogus, you know that?" look. The hawk ignored it and followed Shifu.

The younger ones(Naruto, Sasuke, and Jhong) gathered in the Grandmaster's Room, as the red panda stood before them all. "I have spoken with Master Viper, and she agrees that its time I've trusted you with an assignment that sticks farther from home." Naruto felt this extremely familiar of deja vu. But brushed it off.

"Okay. Why does she think that?"

"She feels as if she's holding on to you lot a little too tightly. Especially you.(Naruto) So she wanted to "loosen up" and have you assigned to a request that will give you more experience in what China is like." Sasuke raised a wing. "What cause is this? Why say this now?"

"Its been close to two months. I think you can manage with all you've learned so far. Anyway, this request shall get you to meet friends closer to your age. Its a simple escort mission. Not a lot that I can figure out from there. But Jhong is here as your guide, as he knows a good friend among them."

"Ah man! Jhong's in charge?" Naruto whined, as the wolf merely bowed a simple okay. "It makes sense. When it comes to the younger lot, I'm the oldest. But not to worry, Po and Crane will join us just in case."

"What? They think we can't handle it?" Sasuke said boringly.

"Its not that. Po was just bored, like Naruto here." The wolf answered honestly.

Shifu added, "And Crane's going because we need a third mature person on this request. I already know two of you are going to be a bitof a...bother. Now go on and get ready." The three nodded, the fox mumbling something rude. He knew who the mature ones were...and he wasn't one of them.

Shifu sighed, content with the choice. He coughed lightly a few times, and headed for the kitchen. "Alright. That's been done. Now where is that blasted herbal tea?"

* * *

Po, Jhong, and Naruto were walking through the village, reaching the border. Sasuke and Crane flew overhead to keep an aerial eye on things. There were things to talk about, at the least. "So buddy, is this one of those times you feel totally unprepared for what's to come?" "Yeah?" "Oh good I thought it was just me."

"Dude, what about the entire Dragon Warrior thing? Shouldn't that be a confidence booster?" "Its only been two months man. I can't afford to be a ridiculous goofball just because of a title...thats how I always am. It makes me...well...me." Po calmly walked for a few more moments, then turned back to the fox. "Wanna bring a few snacks along?"

"Are you really asking me that?...of course I do." A few minutes at Mr. Pings and their baskets filled with plenty of food for the trip. For a wacky reason, their baskets were filled with almost the exact same amount of food...lots of it.

"Sorry...guess I get hungry quite easily. Being a panda isn't always that easy." Po walked on as he met with Crane flying down to him. "All clear Po. We are pretty much ready to move."

"Roger. Hey! I know this is a bit sudden, but I have a totally cool idea: Codenames." "Uh...what?" "Think Crane, it is pretty cool. Naruto can be Firefox, Jhong can be Shadowwolf, Sasuke is Black Hawk, I'm Jade Panda, and you...can be..."

"El Storko!" Naruto yelled. Crane adjusted his blue scarf as he nervously heard that idea. "Yeah...how about NOT that idea? That sounds pretty good." Po folded his arms and kicked the dirt. "Ya don't have to be a jerk about it. But be told, this discussion is NOT over!"

Sasuke flew down next, brushing off his wings. So are we going to start or are we waiting a bit longer?" He seemed a little uninterested, but not enough to back out. Jhong was the only one who seemed to notice. "Don't worry. Who we're escorting is merely an old friend of mine who merely came for a small visit. Unfortunately the safe route has been blown up by something...I really don't know how it happened..."

(An hour ago)

"Alright guys! Make sure you're careful with this stuff. It's very dangerous." A croc bandit known as Fung cautiously warned. Gahri was holding a crate full of something unknown.

"Why are we being careful again?"

"Because this stuff is highly explosive. Don't ask me where I got it, just know that I got it."

"...Where'd you get it?"

"GAHRI! Look I just...I mean...Gah! Just set them over there, make sure nothing lights it!" The smaller croc rolled his eyes as he set the crate down and turned back. Unaware that some michievious fox had already lit the explosives.

Fung smelled the burning, and turned around quickly. It was gonna blow! "HIT THE DECK!"

All the crocs took cover as a massive blast of fire burned everything within its radius. It took out the nearby bridge that lead to the nice and peaceful path that would lead to no problems whatsoever.

Fung stood up and stomped over to Gahri. "What's wrong with you?! I told you to be careful with those things!"

"I-I-It wasn't me, I swear! But...I may have scratched my claw against the tree and caused a spark...but...oh it was me."

Fung stood there stupidly, not believing what he was hearing. Who was he kidding? He totally expected it. Like he always does, he tookoff his helmet...and threw it at the other croc. "Okay OW!" Fung then began stomping away with extreme frustration.

A shadow appeared behind the bushes, and let out a soft giggle. It sounded feminine. "Well that was fun!"

(Present)

"All we know is the dangerous path is the only one we can take for the moment." Jhong explained. "Oh! There goes our to be escorted right now."

The goats politely moved out of the way of the subject. There she was. A young vixen, just about Naruto's age, and a tad bit shorter. Her kimono was a light shade of green, her eyes a pale but shining light blue. They almost looked like diamonds. Her tail also looked fluffier than Naruto's. Her fur looked very smooth too, and she looked very well groomed. He also noticed her long fluffy ears, and her cute little nose-okay now he felt weird. But in his head, his arms were folded.

_She better not be one of those stuck up people who think they're all that just because they have the"good" life. _

Jhong walked up to her, bowing. "Princess Crystal. How good it is to see you again." In a flash, her facial features changed. "Dude! I thought I told you not to call me princess. It just doesn't fit well with you." Nonetheless she began to hug him.

Okay. Now even Sasuke was confused. She sent out all the messages that views her as a very digified person. But allof that was gone in moments. _So...there's a chance she's a tomboy then..._

"So then, what brings you here? You guys are basically gonna bring me home?" "That's about it. Escorts by myself, Dragon Warrior Po, Master Crane, and my new friends here, Naruto and Sasuke." She looked at every single one of them. News about Po has spread quite quickly. Crane, one of the best. Sasuke, seems a bit moody. Naruto...she took her time. He was a new one. _  
_

_Well lookie here...someone is new around here. And my...does he have a friendly face. But it looks like he doesn't have a lot of trust in me. I should fix that sometime so we can hang out. Maybe if I-_

"Why...are you staring at me?" Naruto innocently asked. Crystal suddenly realised this, and turned away quickly. "Anyway...let's get going. We don't wanna be held back too long." Each of them nodded slightly, and pressed on.

* * *

Turns out, they were worried for almost nothing. They've made it almost halfway across the aalloted path they were meant to take, with no distractions. They should really specify how dangerous these paths are if they say dangerous at all.

Crane and Sasuke both took to the skies since nothing was really happening on the ground. Po, Naruto, and Crystal were chatting about other things. Crystal was sticking close to Naruto in an affectinate way that Naruto couldn't quite see. Naruto was cloudwatching as they walked th path. He sees the clouds as a sense of freedom, they can be shaped any way they want.

"Well this was pretty easy. We're almost there, despite the warnings." Po said casuallly. "They really should specify how dangerous this path is."

"They didn't say the path was that dangerous, just less pleasant." Crystal said. "Doesn't have to look like it. Just gives you that uncomfortable feeling."

Naruto shrugged as his tail relaxed in the air. "Whatever. We just gotta get through this and-AH!" Naruto was pounded in the stomach by a chain hammer, which Po grabbed and yanked. A wolf came out, and he looked him in the eye. "Really? You broke out THAT quickly!?"

"Why not?" Po was kicked in the face, as Naruto came back hitting him with both feet. Jhong stayed close to Crystal just in case. But she seemed more interested in watching what was going on. "You can't hold the Lin Kuei forever. They always break out and become stronger than before!"

"Its just you, isn't it?" Naruto said blankly. The wolf paused, not showing any emotion from that question. He threw his chain hammer at Naruto again, who this time dodged to the right by pouncing. He skidded to a stop on all fours. _I can get used to that..._

Po grabbed the chain hammer again, this time swinging the hammer again quickly. He then launched the hammer at the wolf, nearly knocking him out. "You seriously need to regroup with your buddies if thats about it." The wolf weakly grabbed his elbow, and looked at Jhong. "We haven't forgotten about YOU, pup." By that expense,the wolf vanished in thin air, leaving the group behind to ponder.

"They don't seem too smart, do they?" Po asked. "Or maybe that's just something to distract us from something else...I dunno." Everyone shrugged. Overall this was a pretty easy assignment.

In a few minutes they reached their destination. Crystal looked at Naruto. "Aw...we didn't have enough time to get to know each other...oh well. Next time?" Naruto shrugged, but then smiled. 'Its always cool to see friends again. Why not?" Smiling, she hugged him, and she scampered off, giggling. "But wait! What exactly makes you a princess?!"

"When I visit the Valley again, _maybe _I'll tell ya!" She shouted back.

Naruto just stood there, confused through his fur. "Wha?" Sasuke flew down to him, dusting his wings off. "Don't you get it yet? She likes you." Naruto stood there blankly. "Likes me?" "Yeah. She _likes_ you." "I don't get it."

Po stood next to them both, waving to Crane that it was all clear. "Naruto...I obviously know what Sasuke is talking about...she REALLY likes it when you're her friend!" "OH! In that case that's awesome!""Yeah it is!"

Crane, Sasuke and Jhong facepalmed. Then said in that order:

"Those guys are unbelieveable..."

"Pair of morons."

"I do agree. They're a bit ignorant aren't they?" Shaking their heads, they just made their way back to the Valley of Peace.

* * *

**Done! Next chapter is up whenever I can get it finished.**


	12. Small Talk About Aura, and Risk Taking

**I WANT to make these chapters longer, I really do, to those who review about that. But there is so much I can do at a time. So I humbly ask you to forgive me for that. Just know that I'm trying very hard to make this worthy for reading. **

**So anyway, let's start!**

* * *

During the morning time, there was a various amount of things to wonder about from the previous day. Po was still fast asleep the next morning, as was Naruto. They both seemed to be thinking about something else at the moment. Po was obviously thinking about how great things were working out for his fellow young ones. They seemed to be adapting qiute nicely. He wanted to make sure that keeps up.

Now there was one issue that Po wasn't totally sure about. Being the Dragon Warrior means major responsibility on his part for obvious reasons. There was plenty of things he needed to keep up with that he normally wouldn't know how to learn. Shifu quickly figured out that Po wasn't the best student he's ever had, but he's always praised for his effort. Something tells him that Naruto wasn't exactly a fast learner either.

Everyone kept trying to tell them that it was not a big deal, that everyone can mess up once in a while. There isn't a day in their lives that they didn't experience that kind of thing. No matter how much they didn't like to admit something like that. Unless you're Viper, she's perfectly content that everything has a weakness, since it shows that there's no such thing as true perfection. That kind of talk can mess up a person's mind. That's another thing she can compare with Naruto. Sasuke...he's gettin there. Probably.

What Po was focused on that there was a another phase to go through in a special type of training. It would be nice to teach something cool to the boys. The best part was that Shifu was trusting him to do the teaching...with a little reluctance. But he had to trust the panda to do this for part was that it wasn't restricted to just a few people. If the training is just about right, then anyone could learn it. But it has to be willing. That's not really a problem. Po was more than willing, actually.

He was still fast asleep in his room, when he felt something poking him. "Po? Po? Dude, you gotta wake up like, sometime today?" His eyes opened, and he sees Mantis standing by his head. "Oh...hey Mantis. What's going on?"

"What do you mean what's goin on? Aren't you supposed to be somewhere? Like...with the guys? And some others?" Mantis said uneasily.

"But the morning gong hasn't rung yet. Can't I sleep in for a little while longer?"

"Po. The gong rang fifthteen minutes ago. You kind of overslept,we've been waiting for you ever since."

That made Po freeze for a few moments. He instantly shot up and ran. "I OVERSLEPT?! AGAIN?!" He pulled up his pants, grabbed his green tunic, black and white scarf, then ran off to join his friends. Mantis hopped after him quickly.

Apparently, guess who was also still sleeping? Naruto still slumbered in his room, oblivious to anything around him. Except...when he was dumped with cold water again. "GAH! Not again!" This time, Sasuke was there, smirking through his beak. "Oh sorry about that, you were still asleep. I needed to do something to wake you up."

"So that means that you did it the first time! Why would you do that?!"

"Like I said, trying to wake you up. But I also wanted to mess with you."

"Grrr..." The fox merely snarled at the hawk, who was still very pleased with himself. It wasn't truly as bad as Naruto thought though, because of Sasuke has the time for a joke, he's really loosening up. Naruto never thought he'd see the day. He wished Sakura was here to see it. That last thought depressed him a bit. _I miss Sakura..._

"Anyway, get up. We have somewhere to be." Sasuke walked out calmly, letting Naruto get ready. He got an idea, and stood on all fours, and shook himself all over in a wild fashion, all the way to the tip of his tail. He stood back up, completely dry. It just felt natural when he did that. "Like a dog..." After a few more seconds...all of his fur fluffed up in a messy way. Naruto didn't expect that.

"Well...that happened..."

Po walked by his room. "Hey Naruto we gotta-" He stopped when he saw his messy fur, and laughter ensued. "HA! Dude its like a very bad bedhead over all your fur! Don't feel so bad about it, all of us with fur as been through that. Its always gonna be funny!"

Naruto did not respond immediately. He only shook himself a little more so that his fur would appear smoother. "Whatever..."

Taking that as an "everything is fine" sign, Po rushed off again. Naruto tiredly followed.

A few walks and a nap later, they managed to reach their destination, a calm crystal clear pond located in an unknown place...no its not the Pool of Sacred Tears. Its another crystalized looking pool. Naruto, Po, Sasuke, Jhong, and...Crystal?

"Wait...what are YOU doing here?" That's not the only way she surprised Naruto. She now had a different attire. She went from royal to casual. A green sleeved tunic that was lighter than Po's, and blue training pants. The vixen's swishing tail and pink lipstick smile indicated that she was happy to see him. "Didn't ya hear? I'm Po's partner in teaching...at least for this." He was pointing at her lips for a moment. "What? I'm going casual and I can't have a little lipstick on while I'm at it? Tch, men." She purposely said that to tick them off, and it worked. But they let it pass for the sake of time.

Po obviously planned this to give Naruto better reasons to help his training somehow. "Well that's pretty much settled, why don't we get down to business? Now...do any of you know what auras are?" Crystal and Jhong looked like they knew, Sasuke was interested but didn't answer, and Naruto was trying to figure it out.

"Um...is it a type of chi energy? Like chakra?"

"Nope! Just kiddin, you're kinda right. It is your ninjas "chakra" as you speak. But here's where we differ: We managed to take it to its purest level. Natural energy that every living thing has within them. Even something as small as the grass."

Needless to say, this was a point of interest. "Many of us only have one type of aura within them, but there are special ones with more than one type. As an example...the five of us right here have at least two of them. Don't get me wrong, everyone's aura is special in their own ways. But some of them just...stick out more than others, ya'know?" Just then, Kurama began to speak to Naruto.

_**I can't believe it...he's caught on to me...he just doesn't realize it yet. **What are you talking about?** He's not wrong. You have your own aura, and you have mine to borrow when you need to. I'm not too sure about the Uchiha though. But each of you definitely have more than one aura. And I'm sensing that the panda and wolf have hidden auras that stick out just as much as mine. I'm not sure why, but they do. And there's a high chance that the one named Tigress has one as well. Must know more...**_

Crystal thought she heard someone, and flicked her long ears. _What was that...? _

**_She heard me? She's a special one. But why...and how? _**

"Now, try to focus on making it appear before you. Make it...uh you know...seeable." He was already glowing a jade green aura of light around his body, and it didn't look like he was trying to show it either. Crystal and Jhong also had a particular light around them. Crystal's was a calm alluring pink, as Jhongs was a darkened blue. Naruto's was a lighter form of blue. Sasuke's had a dark feeling of purple, and it gave Po a bad since of foreboding in the far future. He tried not to pay too much attention to it.

"Very good. Now, let's try guessing what affinity you guys are properly placed in. Naruto's is...wind. Sasuke's is...lightning and fire. Cool! Crystal's is...wind and water. Jhong's is...lighting. Well there's a breakdown for ya. Not really sure about mine though. Meh, i'll figure it out later."

Sasuke seemed quite confused when Po accepted that so easily. But then again, this panda has never made any actual sense when they actually met him. It was beginning to get exhausting. "Just felt like I needed to let ya know this. I can't tell you how important it is, but trust me, in really is important. You just gotta give it time to settle. I know what i'm talking about, Shifu and I have been through this plenty of times before."

The youth's nodded with understanding. "Anything else you would like to inform us about this little meeting?"

"Oh yeah, this was also to get Crystal on a little playdate with Naruto. You kids have fun!"

"Wait what?!" Crystal grabbed the fox's arm, again with affection no one could see except Jhong and Sasuke. "Yep! You're taking me on a little adventure around the Valley. Like Master Viper said, we aren't ready for thee mass that is China yet."

Naruto was not rejecting the idea, but wanted to see what she does. "What if I don't want to?"

"Princess Order."

"Damn it..." He looked at Po with his eyes as lines, which means he's annoyed. "You set me up..."

"That is correct, my orange furred friend, That is correct." Crystal led Naruto away, as he was nervous as to what will happen next. Sasuke and Jhong watched them pass by, waving innocently. "Try not to do anything...you know what I mean." Naruto blushed heavily, realizing Sasuke was mentioning to the antics he went through with his Sage sensei.

"Shut...the hell up...you feather beaked bastard." Sasuke merely smiled wickedly. Jhong shrugged, indicating that he was completely innocent.

"What does he mean, Naruto?" He suddenly panicked. Letting her know about his history being...a low-status pervert would mean searing pain in his future. Viper? Mercy slap. Crystal? Probably a hard slap to the face. Tigeress? He gulped. Tigeress may be somewhat gentle, but he didn't let that fool him. She can, AND WILL lash out at stupid behavior when she's reached her limit of patience. So to speak, he's found himself another Tsunade.

_Oh joy...let's hope I don't see that side of her anytime...ever._

* * *

Itachi stood alone on an unknown waterfall, thinking of what to do next. He already knew that running around in random directions was not going to help him think of a solution to his ever-growing problems. He still had yet to locate Sasuke, and the Akatsuki seem to have placed a personal bounty on him. There was so much he can do, but holding off an entire organization was definitely not on of them. He needed a plan.

No one else could know where Naruto and Sasuke are, because so few people even cared about the matter. But that's just it. Who could they possibly be? Who was he going to ask for directions? There has to be somebpdy, ANYBODY who has a clue as to where the boys may be. As long as the Akatsuki and Orochimaru are active, neither of them will ever be safe. This was beginning to frustrate Itachi to no end. One thing he couldn't stand, was that their sensei would have the audacity to allow such a-

Itachi stood up quickly. Of course! The only person who could give them the directions is the person who misses them more than anyone. Their squad sensei. Or the sage.

_Kakashi. This is very troublesome...but despite Danzo's warning...I have to go back. I MUST talk to Kakashi. And Jiraiya of the Sannin of possible. Both would be very helpful. Then again...I doubt they will be happy to see me..._

Itachi didn't care about how risky it was, it was better than staying out in the open waiting to be ambushed. No...that would be unpleasant. So with swiftness, Itachi dashed off into the shadows, doing his best to avoid the light.

Unfortunately, he didn't notice a certain spy/medical-ninja with round glasses tailing him with expert stealth...

* * *

**So there's that. Next chapter is sure to be longer, I can certainly try. And...well I'll just TELL you the next chapter name: Why Women Are So Difficult! **

**Before you ask about that, no I'm not sexist. Not trying to be funny, its the truth. **

**So anyway...Review, Favorite, and Follow, if you please. **

**Favorites=21**

**Follows=32**

**Reviews=3**

**I didn't expect this to do so much better than my first crossover story. So I will say...you guys are mega awesome! More will be great, especially when your willing to. Okay, enough babble, see you later!**


	13. Things Get A Little Difficult

**Another chapter! Yeah! Just kidding about the title from the previous chapter, except that there is a connection to it, and what I put in here...I'm probably not making any sense. Oh well. Anyway, like I said, this is a longer chapter than the last one. I just hope that I didn't mess this up too badly. **

**Begin!**

* * *

Things were a little busy from then on in the valley, even though it was only a bit quiet. The citizens were just minding their own business, as usual. There was going to be a few moments of the occasional disagreements just because of a simple dispute that could not be settled with simple shouting. The folks were like that a lot, it didn't really surprise a lot of them. But it did become somewhat of a maajor annoyance to their protectors, who always havr to try and settle the disputes. They wished it was always that simple.

As for the account of one fox's little playdate, Naruto was embarrassed. It didn't have to be called playtime, Po could have just said that the two should hang out, not a baby term like that. But he feels as if Po did this on purpose. All he could think about was how he was going to get back at him for this. At least, when he has the chance. Crystal doesn't seem to be letting him out of her sight. It was strting to really pull on his curiosity as to why she hangs so close to him.

"So what should we do first? I mean, you should know that there is plenty to do here, right?" Crystal asked. Naruto shrugs a lttle. "I've only been here for so long, Crystal. I don't think I can show you that much on my own."

"I've known you for a full month. If I learned anything about you, is that you know how to figure things out. To a certain degree at least." She seemed confident that he has some chance at figuring this out. Heh, he's having a hard time trying to figure out what to do with their day. Usually he'd just wing it. But now that he needs to keep it simple, not wild. Argh! What is he supposed to talk about with her?! He can't really talk about his human side with her. Who knows how she'll react. He didn't remember hanging with a girl by himself could be so hard to think about.

_**Hey genius. Try asking about her life, THEN worry about** **her doing the same. It helps relax the issue. **_

"So...Crystal?"

"Hm?"

"You set we should get to know each other better, why not start now? Let's see...how old are you?" Usually a question like that raised more complications. But she was calm about it.

"I'm twelve tears old, if you really want to know. How about you?" "I'm thirteen. Huh, we aren't that far apart in age after all." That got her to smile. Good, he should keep that up. "Now for the question that I meant to ask eariler, what exactly makes you a princess?"

"Well...obviously my parents are rulers over our own land, me being their daughter...that should be self-exclamatory, right?" Naruto nodded with a smile, of course it did, kinda. "Yeah, that's pretty obvious. But what else about it?"

Crystal took a minute to think, putting a finger to her lip. "Well...you know all that talk Po gave about many having different auras? Well...mine is special for some strange reason. There are just things...that I can see that others can't. Hearing things that others can't. And other things that i'm not aware of yet." Naruto paid close attention to her, indicating his interest. "Its not just me either. Jhong as somethig very special too. And so does another friend of ours, but...you'll have to ask him about that one." She said that with a sneaky grin, which shows that she messed with Jhong on the subject a little.

"Yeah, that's another thing I wanna know. What's up with the two of you?" Crystall smiled. "To put it shortly, he and I have been best friends ever since we met. The dudes fifthteen, us being three years apart didn't stop me from having to save his tail a few times. He lives in the Valley with his mom June and his little brother Bandit. If you wanna know more about him, you gotta get him to talk for himself. He's kinda had it rough. As for me, my family isn't too bad either. Loving parents, cute younger twin siblings, ya know, happy times."

She paused for a moment, then turned back to him. "Your turn, what's going on with you and Sasuke?" The question had him off turn, but he answered honestly. "Let's just say we've been through a lot together. It wasn't always easy, but we pull through." She seemed interested, as she leaned in only a little bit. "Yeah? So...what about you? How about a family?"

They stopped walking. Crystal grew confused, and looked at his face. It has turn into a sad frown, complete with the silence. She knew what this meant, as her ears folded down. "Oh...I didn't mean to...I'm sorry. Oh I just messed this up, didn't I?"

"No, its alright. I managed to take care of myself quite well. Although the folks back home never liked to make my life easy. Sasuke was the same way, but at least he got a chance to know his family. I'm just not sure if that spells future trouble or what..."

Crystal nodded slowly. That was his way of saying that "I suffered a lot, but I still survived."

"Depressing subject aside...Po said that where you came from, you were some sort of ninja. If that's true...mind giving me the basic's when you get a chance?" She said, her cheerful demeanor returning. Naruto almost laughed at this.

"I could surely try to teach you some things...but I don't think it will be much. Let's just say that in my kind of school...I was the victim. They just loved to treat me like I'm nothing. But I showed them, I got stronger. Yet...some still refused to give me an easy time."

Crystal was saddened again, that story sounds familiar somehow. But she regained her toothy smile, and hugged his arm tighter but gently. "Hm...then it's too bad we didn't go to the same school, isn't it?" Naruto was surprised by her answer, as she said that without a moments hesitation. She just kept her grip on his arm, as he smiled once again, and kept walking through the valley.

**(Jade Palace)**

Shifu meditated peacefully in the Grandmaster's room, as he was most of the morning. It was finally noon, as his students were enjoying the sunshine outside, and he was fully relaxed. At this moment, he can't think of anything that can disturb him as to snap him out of his peaceful trance.

"Message for you Master Shi-GUH!"

Except maybe the sound of a goose messenger crashing into a pillar right when he enters the entrance. That can call for a stress mark. Zeng crashed into the ground, disoriented and exhausted. "Message...for Master...Shi...Shi...fu..."

"Um...thank you, Zeng. Are you alright?"

"Yeah yeah, I'm okay. I...I just need to lie here for a second...then I'll be alright...ha...gah...I need water..."

While Zeng chose to just stay where he was, Shifu opened the scrool and read silently.

_Hello Shifu. Remember me? I'm sure you do. It's been SUCH a long time since we've seen each other, and i'm eager for a reunion. If you don't return the feeling...well...We will just find out when we meet at last. See you soon...Fufie. Love, Mei Ling._

Shifu almost dropped the scroll. Her...she was the only person who kept calling him that. But...why here? Why now?! Why would_ she _show up now of all times?!

"This can't be! I need to hide! Must find a place to hide! I'm not ready, I don't even think I have the attire! Must not let her find me like this!" He then noticed that there was more writing at the bottom of the page. _P.S.: Your messenger is quite the moron. You would have gotten this an hour earlier had he not been so eager for a noodle break. So because of the added time, I'm somewhere in the Palace. Don't be so surprised!_

Shifu had the urge to kick Zeng in the head, but he was already gone. "Great...now I need to find a hideout even faster! I need food, water, a secure rope, something to read-"

"Hi Shifu."

"Hello Mei Ling. And I'll also need-" He froze, as he slowly turned around. Oh, there she was...OH NO! _Really should have hid sooner..._

He took the time to examine the vixen. The violet buttoned kimono she wore, the red orange fur, swishing tail...cute little ears...beautiful eyes..._NO SHIFU! FOCUS!_

"Ahem...Mei Ling...what are you doing here? Haven't you have anywhere else to be?" She managed to feign being hurt by this. "Why Shifu...why be so straightforward? It's just an innocent little visit. Can't I at least do that? Why be so suspicious?" Is she just playing him?

"Considering you have been a lot of dishonest things in the past...do I need to say more?" She merely walked around him in a circle, fluffing her tail in his nose every few moments. That was starting to be very distracting. "Oh yeah...that thievery and other things...I guess that does deserve a little distrust. But I'll admit it...I've been thinking over things..." She took his paws, and looked lovingly in his eyes. He was getting distracted by her _scent _now. He willed himself to stay focused. "But...it looks like you'll need to blow off some steam if you're gonna listen to me..."

She winked, then her smile turned into a devious smirk. Shifu didn't even see it happen, but he was thrown right into one of the pillars, and he slumped to the ground. "Argh...I really should have let the Five stay up here..." Mei Ling approached him in a seductive manner, one paw on her hip.

"Let's chat, shall we?"

* * *

Sasuke and Jhong decided to take a little trip to the mountains. Well, Sasuke decided to, Jhong just couldn't leave him up there on his own. Despire the wolf's protests, Sasuke refused to be denied a chance to explore a bit. Usually that's Naruto's or Po's thing, but guess things have changed a little. He took this as a chance to stretch his wings a little more, and took for the skies.

Jhong...well..."Ha...ha...Sasuke...wait up...I...don't...have...wings...like you...can't...catch up...with you...gah...oh...I wish mountains weren't so high..." Yep, he was not gonna catch up anytime soon. Poor wolf.

"Let's take a look here...its really foggy out here...no problem. But other than that...there doesn't seem to be anything here. I better fly around more of these mountains...there's gotta be something to occupy my time with.."

He kept his Sharingan active to see through the fog. But he didn't see that something was eying him from the shadows, looking interested. _Well well...what do we have here?_ Then the figure zipped through the fog with amazing speed.

Sasuke was merely keeping his flight pattern stable, when he felt something zooming right past him. He flinched, and looked behind him. "What was that?"He felt something was following him, but he couldn't tell what happened. When he looked forward, he was met with a forceful kick to the back. He hurtled towards a random point on the mountain, then crashed right into it, picking up dust.

"Ugh...what...the heck...was that? It completely knocked me off balance..."

With a sudden swoop, something landed in front of him swiftly, and the figure looked straight at him. "Hello...boy." A feminine voice soon cooed. The dust cleared, revealing the figure hiding behind it. From what Sasuke could tell, her attire consists of a purple robe with gold trimmings. Her feathers were gray and white, her eyes were purple, and there was a hint of lipstick on her beak. She was an owl...and she was eying him with interest.

"Who...are you?" Sasuke could see the aura around her, and she surely wasn't one of the good guys.

"Hmph, must be new around here if you don't know who I am. Fine. My name is Master Fenghuang. Or probably EX-Master Fenghuang based on those goodie goodies back there. Bunch of idiots." She looked towards the walls, not taking her attention away from the hawk. ""What? That's it. Because I know you don't want to hear my entire lifestory, so let's skip back to you, shall we? Why are you here, human?"

Sasuke was taken aback by this. "You don't seriously think that I'd fall fo that illusion, did you? Did Oogway give you that shapeshifting stone? Where is the old fool anyway? I know you know."

Something told him that telling her the truth was a very bad idea. But she can probably see through lies that have no effort in them. "He's back at the Valley, meditating. What else would he be doing?"

The owl turn her body completely to the fog, letting the breeze pass through her feathers. "You're lying..." In an instant, her head turned to face him, which surprised him a little. "...and I like that. You seem to be one who shows great potential. There's nothing wrong with hiding it, but why would you even bother? You have promise, then you should use that potential to fit your needs. I'm seeing your eyes boy...you desire power. Lots of it, yet you have no idea how idea how to achieve it. But let's not rush our greetings by simple requests. Make yourself at home. I want to visit the old bag for myself. And Shifu too. This will be fun..."

She stretched her wings, preparing to take off. Something in Sasuke told him that he couldn't let that happen, not now. He flapped his wings once, and he glided in front of the owl, landing on his talons and staring her down. "You're not going anywhere..."

Fenghuang just smirked. "Youth today...they never seem to acknowlege their elders. Fine, have it your way." In one swift move, she came in and pounded his chest with one wing, launching him back into a wall, where he lost a few breaths. _What a way to spend today...getting beaten by an owl...that's gonnna be fun...why not?_

* * *

**_Leaf Village..._**

Itachi eventually made his way back into the Leaf Village again, this time hoping for better results. He has figured out the major part of the banishment of Naruto and Sasuke. He should find their teachers as soon as he possibly could. Sneaking in was a little bit of a challenge this time, as patrols were set out just to look for him. But he pulled through with minimum effort, and passed the gate no problem.

He was making his way to Kakashi's apartment, where there was a high chance he would be there. But he still had to be extra careful about his surroundings. Approaching the window, he sneaked his way in. It wasn't the best apartment room in the world, but it was decent enough to be lived in.

He looked through the room carefully, tryinh to see if there was some sort of trap set for intuders. His eyes then set on Kakashi's old team photo. He remembered the members clearly. Three of the memebers were seemingly deceased, making Kakashi the sole survivor of the team. He was cold and dark after that, and everyone worried for attitude may have somehow returned now that his students were gone.

He would have wondered more, if it wasn't for the cackles of lightning behind his back. "Looks like I was right...I'm not exacly welcome here, am I Kakashi? Jiraiya?"

The lights went on, and there they were. The Toad Sage sitting at the window with folded arms, and Kakashi inches away from plunging his Lighting Cutter through Itachi's back. "You caught me in a very bad mood Itachi. Isn't one attack enough?" He didn't bother turning around, it wasn't necessary. All they needed to do was listen.

"I didn't come to attack you, Kakashi. I'm asking you something important."

"Why should we trust you? For all we know you could still be spying on us for the Akatsuki. You could be up to anything." Jiraiya said seriously. Itachi however, was just as serious. "You don't need to trust me. All I desire is an answer, then I'm on my way. Besides...do you see any robes on me right now?"

It was true. Itachi had discarded his Akatsuki unifrom a long time ago, changing back to his ANBU uniform. The two sensei's took this in, and Kakashi canceled his attack, and closed the door to his house. "You have five minutes. Then you leave." "All I need from you gentlemen."

They made sure no one was watching them, and placed their attention back to Itachi. "Now what do you want?"

"Its a simple question: Where's Sasuke?"

This question already put them on edge, not knowing his true intentions was raising their suspicion even more. "Why would you want to know that? Are you going to finish what you've started? Or is it that he's with Naruto, and you're hunting for them? Well sorry to disappoint, but we can't tell you."

Itachi didn't let them see it, but he was growing desparate. This was his last chance, and he can't let it go to waste. "Kakashi. Please, this isn't Akatsuki business. I left the organization months ago. The news had me leaving immediately. I just want to know where he is."

There was still doubt on their faces. Why wouldn't it be? "Are you telling me that after so many years of tormenting him in his dreams, now you worry for him? Debateable. And anyone can fake a leave from the organization, just for the sake of deception. You're time is up, and its time for you leave Itachi."

He could tell he still wasn't trusted, so he made a gamble: "Fine. I'm not going anywhere, but I will give you a method of trusting me. You can give me a polygraph to see if I'm truly lying. Or you can kill me right now, then Sasuke will never have to obsess with revenge ever again."

This shocked them both. He was willing to take a risk like that? "You're bluffing." Was Jiraiya's response. Itachi shook his head. "Want me to prove it?" He discarded his sword, his weapon pack, and deactivated his Sharingan. He was defenseless. "Let me take the polygraph...or kill me now. I won't argue, just take the time to choose."

Woah...he wasn't joking about this. But are they really going for it? Jiraiya then took a vote. "Polygraph, Kakashi?" The white haired man agreed. Jiraiya nodded, and summoned a orange scroll. "I'll ask the questions. Just put your hand on the scroll. If you tell the truth, nothing will happen. Lie, and it burns your hand to a crisp. So you better be sure about this."

Itachi didn't say anything, he just put his hand on the scroll.

"First Question: Did you really sever your ties with the Akatsuki?" "Yes." Nothing happened.

"Second Question:: Are you still targeting Naruto regardless?" "No." Nothing happened.

"Final Question, for thr trust: Are you genuinely and truly worried for your brother Sasuke's safety?" "...Absolutely." ...Nothing happened. He's was telling the truth. Jiriaya put away the scroll as a record. "You really are telling the truth...alright. Here's what you need to know-"

"Kakashi sensei? Master Jiraiya?" The innocent voice made them all freeze with intense fear of who it was. Kakashi needed to make sure, so he turned around. Sakura.

_DAMN IT! _

The pink haired kunoichi looked at Itachi, in complete disbelief. "You..._you're _Sasuke's older brother? The one who made Sasuke suffer for so long?" She then became mad. "YOU"RE the one who almost tore Naruto and Sasuke apart! How could you?!" Kakashi took note of the noise she was making, and rushed over to her. "Sakura. Listen, I know this looks bad, and you're upset. But you NEED to keep it quiet! No one can know about this."

"Too late." Itachi said grimly. To see what he meant, they quickly went outside to see the source of the disturbance. Danzo. And a dozen of ANBU agents standing outside the apartment. "Yow were warned, Itachi. And Kakashi, Master Jiraiya too? Even the little girl...We have a nest of traitors in the village, I see."

Itachi was apalled that they found out his location so quickly. But he looked into the far corner of a shadow of one building...and saw a shine of glasses off the moonlight. Kabuto. "Damn...he must have followed me...but why unravel my position?"

"For associating with a criminal organization, you are ALL under arrest. Surrender yourselves now." Jiraiya would have revealed that Itachi wasn't with the Akatsuki, but since the old Leaf elder has serious trust issues (and he's kind of a bastard...) he doubted that Danzo would believe him. Besides, he feels that he's somehow involved in Naruto and Sasuke's banishment.

But since he refused to actually fight his Leaf bretheren, he instead grabbed something else out of his pack. "Warp scroll!" He activated it, and in a flash of light, they were gone. The Anbu got to searching the apartment, trying to figure out some sort of clue. Danzo just stayed silent for the ordeal. But he was actually glad this happened. There was no one else that could possibly suspect him.

Except Tsunade of course. But since she has no choice but to stay in the village after all of this, he has even fewer to worry about. He then asked the nearest ANBU this: "Where is Sasuke?"

**(A VERY long distance away) **

The group landed on a nice patch of land, safe from Danzo. Sakura was quivering on the ground, not believing what just happened. They were really going to arrest her over an unproved suspicion. Was...was that what happened to Naruto and Sasuke? That must have been so hard for them. "Kakashi sensei...Master Jiraiya...I-Itachi...what do we do now?"

All the adults discussed this privately, then came to an agreement. Jiraiya poofed up a map, Itachi walked behind him, and Kakashi stayed with Sakura. "Well Itachi, looks like you get your wish after all." Sakura was obviously confused, but was still on another fact. "Kakashi sensei...was it my fault that we caught and had to leave?"

"Of course not Sakura. You were just caught at the wrong place at the wrong time. You are not to be blamed for this." She didn't feel better, but she wasn't feeling guilty anymore either. "But...what do you mean: Itachi got his wish? Where are we going?"

Kakashi looked her in the eye, and smiles behind his mask. "It'll take awhile...but we're heading to a special place called China. We're going to see our teammates again."

At that statement, Sakura's eyes lit up with extreme happiness, and hope. She may have lost her home...but she was going to see her teammates again. Her other friends will be missed. But she HAD to be there for her friends.

_Naruto...Sasuke...hold on...I'll see you both really soon!_

* * *

Shifu managed to deflect another blow Mei Ling threw his way. They've been act this for quite a bit, as no one else was around to see them. It didn't even seem to be an actual fight though. To approve it, she didn't actually try to hit him, as she launched slow attacks that he could block no problem. For one attack, he simply caught her paw.

"You don't really want to fight, do you?" She pushed his paws down and got really close to his face. "Like I said, I just wanna chat. Y'know...like associates?" That's somehow debateable. He then threw her to the side, as she managed to land on her two feet. "I'm not so much of a thief as I was back then. You gotta believe me, I want to clean up my act...kind of...NO. I really want to change."

"Forgive me if I doubt that statement." Mei Ling sighed at Shifu's stubborness. But who could blame him? She was involved in quite a lot of heists. But...man she expected it to be this hard, but didn't really believe it would be.

"Ha...alrighty then...not that I didn't see this coming, but it's still disappointing. Oh well. I have plenty of time to earn some trust points...with my not so secret plan." Shifu was somewhat confused about this. If it's not a secret, then its a secret? Is she trying to be cryptic?

"How exactly do you plan on earning these so called...trust points?" "Easy. I'm going to be tutoring one of your students to relieve the stress levels in your head." "What makes you think I'm sometimes stressed?"

_Flashback: "Uh...Shifu? Are these weapons supposed to break like this? Po nervously had a broken sword in his hands...along with many more broken weapons. Shifu clearly looked pissed. "PO!" _

_Another Flashback: "NARUTO! MONKEY!" The boys were covered in paint, as they were flinging it at each other repeatedly. The then pointed at each other quickly. "IT WAS HIM!"_

"Okaaaay...I guess I can see your point. But still-" She put a finger to his lips, shushing him. "Shush, not finished yet. I understand that you don't have to agree now. Just give me a chance. Hey, I do't even have to stay in the palace! I can just stay down below, you know? Completely fine by me." She removed her paw, and just stared at him. He understood that she was willing to wait for an answer.

He regained his footing, and clears his throat. "Hm...I guess it can be considered...but what I want to know is...how did you know I would say yes?" That's something she didn't expect. She was pretty much winging it at this point. But she didn't allow him to figure that out. "I knew you would Shifu. Because deep down..." She lifted his chin up with a claw, and batted her eyelids.

"...you miss me just as much as I do you." With that, she was gone in an instant. She was just as fast as he was. This was a bit much for the tiny Master, he wanted to lie down. But another voice came in.

"Hiya Shifu! I'm back!" Po said as he rushed back to him from behind. "Whatcha doing around here? You seem dazed." Shifu just stood still, nodding slightly. "I just need my green tea...and a nice meditation session. I should just-"

"Shifu! I'm back!" They looked towards the door, seeing the hawk known as Sasuke Uchiha. He seemed not to have a scratch on him. "And I brought a friend." A few seconds later some larger figure landed next to him, surprising Shifu for the second time today. "Fenghuang?! What are you doing here?!" As Shifu was shocked, Po was utterly clueless, as he didn't know of her.

"Calm down you old fool. I'm not here for a fight. I'm here...for rehabilitation duty." Again, Shifu had no idea what was going on. He must wonder what Po was thinking. "What do you mean...rehabilitation duty?"

"Me and hawkie here made ourselves a little wager. If he can be convincing enough to make me believe in the "good side" of things, then...I'll move back into the Valley. As for myself, I'll be his teacher for the time being. Don't get your hopes up though, I still despise you intensely." She turned to Po, who was still clueless. "Of course...I can't hate you, I just met you...whoever you are."_  
_

"I'm Po!" "Well then...greetings...Po. Now if that will be all, Sasuke, I'm taking my leave. You better be ready for what you're asking for." With that, the owl flew away with a leap, leaving the guys near the stairs.

"If you're wondering about Jhong, he made his way back already. Now I think I'll be off too." With that, Sasuke flew off too, now leaving the two pandas there to ponder.

"Master? What just happened?" Po asked. Shifu just rubbed his head, and walked off. "Even though I lived with Tigeress for such a long time and dated Mei Ling...I don't think I understand women as much as I used to...forget the tea and meditation...I just want to nap off this growing headache..."

* * *

Back with the two foxes Naruto and Crystal, their little playdate was almost done with. The male had to fend off a certain bug and primate for half of the time, as he repeatedly told them: "Its NOT an actual date!" But did they listen? Not very much. So he did his absolute best to avoid them as much as possible.

But eventually, they backed off, and were allowed some time alone on the Training Grounds. Since no one was there, it was no hassle. "So, I took you around the places in the Valley that I actually know of. Does that please you, _your Highness?" _

Crystal just stared at him blankly."I know you're trying to mock me by royal means...but yes I did." The smiles were back, as they just looked up at the sky. "Si I guess I better head home soon, huh?"

"Yeah, I guess so." Crystal chuckled a bit, then tugged on her vest. "These things are KILLING ME. Do you mind?" She gestured a turning around motion. Naruto understood, and turned the other way. He heard a series of shuffles and buckles, as he wondered what she was doing. "Okay, I'm finished." He turned around, and jawdropped SO hard. She...has...well..._assets. _She was holding wrappings in one paw, sighing with relief. "_Much_ better. Just had to give them a break, you know?"

Crystal then noticed that he was in awe at what he has discovered. She decided to mess with him, so she smiled wickedly, and put her paws on her hips. "Oh I see what's going on here. You new, so you didn't really expect woman around here to have breasts, did ya?" Naruto was blushing progressively. His face was _priceless._

"I'll tell you the truth: Guys around here need to focus on their training and all of that, right? Well because of the woman not being so...careful with their appearances back then, the men get very distracted. So many of us have to where wrappings in our vests so they barely seem noticable. Like right now. Eyes up here dude." Naruto shook his head, and focused on her face again. "S-Sorry. I just didn't...well..."

"Forget it, its fine. A lot of people make mistakes thinking that. But look on the bright side: You learned something new!" She then went to hug him. Naruto resisted looking down, and just hugged her back. Today wasn't super awesome, but it was decent.

_**I don't usually comment to things like this, but MAN! Your face was absolutely priceless! You don't know much about woman ANYWHERE, do you? **_

Naruto inwardly sighed. _I...just don't understand girls...like...at all..._

* * *

_There was the noise of clanking heard as one lone figure stood at his lonesome, as he planned to rid of a very specific target, as his metal talons scrapped against the solid rock below him. "Soon..."_

* * *

**_Finished. Hope that was long for those who requested that. Just know that I can't always do lengths like these, but I'll try not to make them ridiculously short, you know? Arc's over. The Next one is a little obvious, the "Lord Shen" arc. It will kinda be like the second KFP, but not entirely, because this is all AU in a certain way._**

**_Review, Favorite, Follow, all are fantatstic. Hope you still like this! Buh-bye!_**


	14. Short Hand Attack

The next day, things have considerably calmed themselves down for the moment. There was just no being sure about it though. They were going to have to learn that the unexpected could happen at anytime. Of course they were sure that nothing funny was gonna happen this early in the morning, for sure. But who would know this? Thins have turned into quite the headache lately.

Not particularly for Po though. He was comfortably asleep in his hammock at his old room, snoring up quite a storm. He has felt pretty content with setting Naruto up with Crystal for a little hang out session. Although he also fears the possibility of the kitsune taking utter revenge upon him for putting him in such an awkward position like that. But he's sure that he will thank him at a later time...probably. Okay that may have been a bad idea for his sake, but it was to get Naruto more friends around here. So, he didn't care what happened to him, as long as his friends were happy. Even though THEY might be the one's dishing out the pain...meh.

Po's dreams were usually peaceful, with him being with his friends, eating good food, spending time with his dad, helping his dad make good food...there's a lot that Po was thankful to have in his life. A happy go-round panda like him always this to think about the positives, and never give in to negatives so easily. It's one of those characteristics that makes him very special. However...things have somewhat changed in his mind. He feels like something is wrong and he just couldn't make it out clearly. His dream state was beginning to get wavy...

_Everything was very blurry, so he couldn't see a thing. Then he realized that his vision was blurred because all he saw was smoke, lots of it. He also realized that he wasn't wheezing from it, and he wasn't feeling his eyes water from the irritation it should have been doing to him. He then remembered that he was still in a dream-like state. _

_"What is this...? What am I seeing right now...?" _

_He then saw someone coughing through all of that smoke, and it also seemed like it was rushing forward for something...or someone? He was beginning to see the figure treading through the smoke. He took a moment to wait it out and see exactly who it was. It was...himself?! He seemed to be running towards someone desparately, trying to save someone?_

_Indeed, someone was seen in the distance, lying helplessly and looking hopeless. What he noticed about the both of them is that they were both covered in soot, scratches, and blood. But that didn't seem to stop the panda from moving quickly. He saw the panda shouting something, but he could not hear it. Actually...he couldn't hear anything. Everything here was mute. _

_Before he could see anymore, he was shooken awake by someone from reality..._

"Po? Po? Wake up son!" Mr. Ping has been shaking the sleeping panda for five minutes now, and he was beginning to worry a little. The feeling allieviated when he finally began to tiredly open his eyes. "Yawn" Hey Dad...what's going on? Don't you have to open shop?" The goose sighed, rubbing his neck. "I decided to keep closed for the morning Po." This seemed to throw Po off a little. "It's just that...well...I'm not so sure why, actually. The fatherly side of me just says that we'll need to talk later today, and if its true, I don't want any interruptions. I may open later today the shop later on, but for now I just want to be ready for anything. Well that and I need more ingredients...you know what I mean."

Po was somewhat confused, and even a little worried about his father's change in pace. Something in the air must have spooked the poor goose into being scared for his son. He didn't have to say it, the expression was all he needed to read. Po wanted to know what was really spooking him, but he knew that the goose wasn't going to converse about that. The panda could only nod in understanding, as he climbed out of his hammock, put on his green tunic, and wrapped his black and white scarf around his neck. "Alright then Dad...if you really don't feel like talking...then I guess I'll see you later." Po walked out of his room, and he exited the building. Mr. Ping saw him out, his worry not leaving him. Something just seemed...off about today. And it would really interfere with his work, but other than that. "Oh Po...I don't know why...but there is this feeling that grave danger is heading your way..."

Meanwhile Po was heading towards the Jade Palace, wondering what's gotten into his dad. He was usually a very happy go around man, like himself. But today he seemed off about something. He would have more questions within his mind, eager to find answers, yet fearing what he would find. He should probably just get to his friends as soon as possible. Nothing else to do except-

_Panda...panda..._

Po suddenly grew a very painful headache all of a sudden, holding his head with one paw. "What? What was that...? Whp was that...?" _No use in trying to figure me out, panda. Now is the time you got serious about things. The first piece of your past shall be revealed very soon. The adventure of dread heading your way, and I'll be watching in mere amusement. Until then, you'll want to rest your mind for a little while. Panda...you will sleep. NOW. _Po didn't like the voice in his head, it sounded malicious and...pure evil. But what about finding out the first piece of his past? Why would he want-wait. He never even wondered about his past until the voice just mentioned it. But before he could wonder more, his mind completely blanked out. The next thing he knew, he fell on his face, completely unconscious. About twenty-five minutes have passed before he felt movement again. Also he heard something calling for him.

"-O! PO! ARE YOU ALRIGHT?! WAKE UP!" It was a feminine voice, no doubt. It was Tigeress. He managed to open his eyes, to see his friends, as well as a worried sick goose and tiger duo, watching him with extreme worry. He managed to sit up slowly, only to be pushed back again by a tigers forceful hug. "What happened to you?! Sasuke was soaring overhead, when he saw you pass out right at this spot! He notified us immediately. What happened?" She mentioned this worriedly, as everyone looked at him with the same look. He decided not to tell him about the voice, as there was doubt that they would believe him. "Guess I didn't really get enough sleep after all. Hehe..." It wasn't hard to tell that he wasn't being very truthful, but it didn't feel like a lie, either. He did look a little bit tired still. He looked into Tigress' eyes, who looked doubtful at his explanation. Po took this as a definite sign that she wasn't done with him, not yet.

As for Naruto, he felt Kurama shuffle in his cage with extreme discomfort. Actually...he seemed pretty close to feral, as he was snarling loudly, as Naruto kept a safe distance from the demon fox. "Woah, chill man! What's gotten you so pissed off?...Its not me is it?" He only sniffed the air, as if confirming something.

_**The panda has some sort of scent on him...something only I can point out. I don't like it at all. As familiar the smell is, it's so damn vile to my nose...that's an evil energy left behind in his mind. Someone was speaking with him. Someone I really despise...but I can't be sure of it right now...**_

Naruto was unsure whatsoever think about this. The fox just admitted to being nervous about something. "You have been calling yourself the big bad fox for as long as I discovered you. If you say something's spooked you, then something must be wrong." **_Listen, don't focus on that right now. Just tend to the panda._**

As for Sasuke, he sensed that Naruto was talking to the fox again. But then he sensed something else..._What's wrong with you boy? _He heard in his mind, and rechecked his surroundings. None of their voices matched the one he's just heard. _Why boy? Why do you continue to waste time with these people? You know deep down than you are better than any of them, but your so called "righteous choices" prevents you from realizing yor true thoughts. But we both know what you really want...but revealing that TOO early would ruin my fun...so I'll leave you to it. _

His thoughts were shooken aside as someone came running to them as he tried to ponder this. The teen wolf Jhong was hurrying towards them, sounding urgent. "Guys! Other wolves are ransacking the Valley! We better hurry!" Putting inner turmoils aside for now, everyone rushed towards the cause of all of the commotion, seeking to end it as quickly as they could. Mr. Ping knew the unsettling feeling wasn't his imagination, something really was going on with Po.

**A few minutes before...**

The wolf pack was eying their target of supplies which was a small village just outside the Valley of Peace. They were given orders by their master to retrieve any supplies that will help their masters desire for conquest. Alas, they were just a mere fraction of the growing army they had back home. It should be enough for this one ransacking to be successful, as was their other ones. They were fairly easy, because no one was willing to fight against them so far. The pack was getting a bit cocky after all of that.

But their pack leader Jao was smarter than that. He liked the thrill of the actions he and his comrades regularly perform, But he wasn't one to to just rush in to a situation his pack wasn't ready for. But even he gives in to his wild side once in a while. It was just a wolf's instinct. His name was Hao, and he lead the pack alongside his brother Jao, who was just as capable a leader, yet not always as cautious. Compared to his brother, he enjoys being reckless once in a while. He had a scar across his bare chest, as his brother had a scar over his permamently closed eye. Jao walked up to him. "Alright brother, the supplies are right for the stealing, so let's get on with it already!" He then walked in front of him, and looked back. "Unless...you can't be trusted with such a heist? It would REALLY be a shame if you couldn't do it..."

Hao didn't respond for a moment, because his brother sometimes got on his nerves so much. But he was right, they can't keep their master waiting for so long, and they needed to move out soon. "Are you assuming that I don't have the guts to send us all down there when there's clearly going to be trouble ahead? We are all about trouble...once in a while." Hao looked at the other wolves, and nodded. "Alright boys, you know what to do!" The wolves howled, and they ran into the village.

**Present.**

Jhong was leading the group over to the village under attack, giving them some info of the situation. "I don't know why, but they seem to be swarming them for all the metal they have. We have to get there quickly!" Jhong left out the part where he might have seen these wolves before, their armor definitely seemed familiar. He was sure that his family was alright, as he checked with them before coming here. When they finally reached the area, they glaredat the wolves who were selfishly stealing from the helpless. Normally Tigeress or Sasuke would develop a plan before rushing in to-

"Hey pups! Don't you know ransacking a helpless village isn't cool?!" Well...Naruto compromised that quite easily. Sasuke facepalmed(winged?) "Oh for the love of..." The wolves eventually noticed them, and began to snarl as they charged them. Po charged as well, except his weight and strength has allowed him to completely plow through the wave. Everyone began to follow their lead, attacking the pack of wolves. Naruto smirked, his kitsune smile not changing with his form, as he faced down a group of wolves. They swiped at him with their blades as he dodged every swipe with swiftness. Mantis then came from under them, as he kicked all of their weapons out of their hands. Naruto then went to knocking them all away with a serious of hard punches and kicks. The next wave charged for the two recklessly. Mantis hopped on his shoulder, holding one of their swords. "Alight, let's go!" "Dude, I like the way you think!" Naruto ran straight through the wave on all fours as Mantis steadied his sword to combat every wolf they came across, clashing with the ones that had swords, and knocking out of the paws of others.

Crane was flying low, using his long legs to kick away at the numerous wolves in their chests, while slashing the ones who had lances in their paws. He grabbed one and spun it in a circle, knocking down the group around them. The other wolves appeared from atop the buildings, as they looked like archers aiming right for him. Crane saw them in time, and turned towards Sasuke. "Sasuke, archers! Remember what I showed you!" The hawk nodded and took for the skies. He then appeared right behind Crane and got his wings at the ready, as tje archers rained arrows down on the two. Cranes deflection training and Sasuke's Sharingan allowed him to knock away every arrow that came at them with relative ease, not letting a single one through. "Our turn." Sasue used one wing to knock up a bunch of arrows, and Crane used both his own wings to blow them right back to sender, which sent them running away for the other packs.

Viper had her own wave alongside Naruto once again, Jhong, and surprisingly, Crystal. Viper whipped her tail at wolf's feet as she worried for the teens. "Are you sure its safe for her to be here?!" She shouted as she whipped one wolf in the eye. Naruto punched out one wolf, hopped over him and jump kicked another. "I was thinking the same thing! Jhong why'd you bring her again?!" Jhong simply held his own against his attacker while responding. "Trust me, she's been waiting for a chance like this." "Like when?" Crystal then ducked as one wolf went to grab her and was knocked right into another. "Pretty much when I wanted adventure in my life. Like...ever." Naruto sighed as he dodged another attack. "That's _very _specific...not."

Po and Tigress held out on their own very well together, as they always had each others backs as one blocked incoming attacks, and the other would strike back at them with extreme force. It was their pattern of attack when surrounded by a huge crowd. To really clear them away, Po took a hold of Tigresses paws, and spun her in a circle as she kicked the wolves around her in numerous places as they rotated. In less than a few minutes, all the wolves around them began to fall back. Po was proud of themselves, until a lone wolf smacked him with a frying pan in the face as he ran away. Jao was snickering at his act. "Ha! How's that, tubby?!" As Jhong saw him getting ambushed, he was punched in the gut and sent flying into a wall, cracking it. General Hao had him by the neck. "Now I got you, pup!" As he stared into his eyes however, his widened considerably as he immediately let go, completely shocked. "No...its you? You lived here for so long?" He didn't waste any time, as he rushed off to join his bretheren back to the mountains. Jhong regained his breath, trying to figure out what that was all about. Po helped him out, face still hurting. "Are you alright?" "I...I don't know..." Po simply nodded in understanding. "Let's just report back to Shifu. Some of us ar hurt pretty bad."

Everyone agreed to heal up and figure out what exactly just happened.


	15. Heading Out

**Yeah...last chapter was a bit...off, I felt. Got a little thrown off by events involved with education, so I probably won't update faster until time is by my side, and when school is out. Yep...things get tough when its almost over. School I mean. Anyway, we will begin...now.**

* * *

The group decided to call it rest and figure out what exactly happened today. A wolf pack has plundered the Valley for nothing but metal. That was pretty much their only reason for coming around here. But what could they possibly need all of that metal for? Po seems to have some sort of understandig as to why that may be. But he isn't really up to sharing it with his friends at the moment, he's trying to spare them the worry. But he's been having less than pleasant dreams about things he can't understand. But it was hard not to worry for the panda, he fell unconscious fo no real reason, and Kurama reacted almost violently to something in his mind. It really started to plant seeds of serious worry in Naruto's mind, but he was sure the demon fox wasn't going to give him any real answers that he can comprehend.

Po was told to meditate in his room to cleaar his head of any stressful thoughts that may bother him. He wasn't sure if it would exactly help much, it's been happening quite often. But he had to try something or he'll never make any progress. So he decided to just play along with it and meditate. He sat down in his meditative position, and tried to clear his thoughts. And wouldn't you have it, it was never meant to be that easy. He was having another vision.

_Something was really wrong. Po was looking up in sheer shock at what has transpired. There was pain riveting his body,yet he refused to allow himself to fall unconscious because of it. Naruto was in shock as well. It was a medical kind of shock, he was just staring up to the sky as he was falling into the water in slow motion. All of his friends watched in extreme horror at what happened to him, and he isn't even reacting. He was emotionless as his eyes were wide, and his face was completely blank at what has happened to him. And what he failed to accomplish. _

_Sasuke was the only one who reacted, as he rushe towards his friend. "Naruto!" _

Po immediately came out of his mediatation, panting heavily from what he saw. This is just bloody stupid to him, what was currently happening to him. Was he losing it? There has just been too much for him to be taking in all at once. There was that image of himself, menacing voices in his head, and now he saw even MORE images of things he can't even understand. What is happening?

"Jeez...I must be pretty hungry to start seeing things..." He doubted that was it, but he really wanted to snack on something right now. Spending time with friends and eating relieve his stress. Mostly friends. So he got up and left his room.

He was greeted by Tigress, who was one of the people who worried for his well being. Like earlier, his dad said that this started to become common. Worrisome fathers these days. "Po...are you sure you're alright?"

"All i know is that this has been happening to me a lot lately. I'm sure it will go away eventually." Tigress was trying her best to believe him, but something was keeping her from believing him fully. So they just casually made their way to the Training Hall to check on their friends.

They were gathered at the very front, watching something closely. "Hey guys? What's going on?" Po whispered. "The boys are sparring again. They're always interesting to watch!" Viper whispered back. Po looked up and realized who they were referring to.

Naruto dodges another wing slice from Sasuke as he flipped backwards. Naruto charges back with a claw swipe that just barely cut Sasuke's feathers on his head. They both jumped back, nodding. Naruto's tail swished. "Hey Sasuke, you're doing well...for the moment." The hawk just huffed. "Fine, be that way!"

Naruto leaped for a quick pounce, but Sasuke ducked and kicked him in the stomach. The fox recovered mid-air and landed on all fours. He grinned a bit, once again charging forth. Sasuke grinned too, as his wing crossed his chest, and charged with lightning. "Chidori Razor!" Theres a reason he calls it that. His wing charged with lightning that's so thin it will slice clean through most things. He tested it with Crane, of course he won't be lethal with it, but he'll have fun with it.

Naruto actually looked nervous. "Heeey...you're not actually gonna cut me with that, will you?" Sasuke smirked. "That depends on how well you can dodge." With no more warning, he charged and sliced at the poor fox. "Woah!" Sasuke sliced quickly at the orange fox with a flurry of slices with both wings lightning charged. Naruto managed to dodge most of him with swiftness, and luck. The last slice slightly cut his tail, as it lost some of its fur.

Naruto took a moment to recover a bit, but was pinned down by a swift talon to the chest. "I win." Naruto smirks as he kicked Sasuke backwards behind him, making him crash against the wall. "No, **I **win!" Sasuke grumbled a bit as he got back up. Shifu appeared in the middle of the two of them before they could go at it again. "That's quite enough. This match has been declared a draw."

The boys paused for a moment. Then Naruto groaned. "Aw man! Thats four times in a row we had a draw!" Sasuke smirked. "At least I got one win in." "Crystal was distracting me!" Another banter was about to take place. "Not now boys. Something serious has come up. Everyone follow me." The red panda leaves the room, expecting everyone to follow. They all looked at each other, and followed.

Po walked next to Sasuke. "Where's Fenghuang?" He looked upat the panda. "Business trip. Don't know where, don't know why, and most importantly...I don't care." Po was silent for a short moment, then simply shrugged. Naruto chooses to pass this off as a start of something really wrong. Something weird, Po has the exact same feeling.

* * *

_**Meanwhile...on a boat at sea...**_

Daytime has been reached by now, as the transport to China slowly drifted across the waters. Things just had to get so hard for a group of seemingly innocent ninjas who seems to have an amazingly large amount of bad luck. They were all booted out of the same village for a mere panic. Or a conspiracy in the making, there really was no way to be sure. But one thing was clear enough for Sakura. Danzo...sucks.

But seriously, being the youngest in the so called "fugitve" group, the men had to gather round her and keep her safe from any severe fanger that may cross their path on their way to the destination. Things should have taken a negative toll on her, but she's held herself up quite well so far. What they really worried about is how long that calmness will last. Jiraiya plans to get the boys side of the story, as it was never heard. Itachi is still trying to carefully analyze the potential consequences of his reckless actions, which was unlike him. His sibling has that much of an impact on his actions, despite his disdain of the older.

Since they should be nearing their destination at any time now, Kakashi went on to wake up the sleeping girl. "Sakura? Sakura...wake up." She rustled a bit before eventually opening her eyes. "Kakashi...sensei? Are...we there yet?" He helped her up from the floor, as she cleared up her hair. "Yes, should be any time now. Itachi noted some sort of strange fog filled with an even stranger energy, which means he's familiar with this place we're headed." Itachi looked out at the water, nodding quietly. "He admits he didn't know where the boys were sent, but now that he does, he remembers being in China before." Sakura was surprised for a moment. "Don't bother asking him how and why, already tried. Itachi isn't one to crack under pressure at a glance."

Jiraiya was thinking about other things...such as how Tsunade wil react that Danzo has turned them away for hidden reasons, not allowing them a safe return. He tried his best to figure out Danzo's true intentions. It coud be the mantle of Hokage, supposedly. He always wanted the title, so he's throwing out any threats to it, like the boys, and the adults. But why cast out the container of the Nine Tails, and the remaining Uchiha besides Itachi? Nothing about this makes sense. There was going to be much more difficulty on this, he was sure of it.

"Excuse me gentlemen...and lady. How do you say it? Oh yes, Land-Ho." Itachi said with not much emotion. No one blamed him for it, all they needed was the information. It was true, the group could see a patch of land in the distance, as Sakura was in the front. "So that's a piece of China, huh?" Itachi nods. "Believe me...it gets bigger." He pulled on thie ships operations, and it stopped completely. "Let us leave the boat here. It can only give us away a lot easier, since the boat isn't very familiar around here. We cannot risk our secrecy until we find the boys." Jiraiya stretched. "Alllrighty then. We go on foot from here. Ready Kakashi? Sakura?" They both nodded. 'Alright. Itachi has been here once before, so he leads."

The man nodded as he leaped off of the boat first, and everyone else followed, gathering their supplies and dashing off on the water. Itachi deactivated his Sharingan for now, to conserve his energy. He did one last leap onto solid ground, as the other three followed right after.

Sakura took a quick look around, taking in the environment. "Woah...sure there are a few differences...but so far the place doesn't look any different than home." Itachi kept walking. "I know. That's what made adapting here more doable. There is a chance Naruto and Sasuke adapted quickly, but we probably won't recognize them so easily." The were a bit confused at first, but disregarded it.

"Alright smart guy, where do we look first? Like you said, China is huge and vast, like you said. There must be a dozen places to look, and not a lot of time." The man merely stayed calm, unlike the growing conerned Kakashi and Sakura, who tried to keep their cool nonetheless.

"Relax yourselves...I have a definite feeling that they are both safe enough for them to take our time to search clearly and carefully. Rushing won't make the search any more efficient. If we are to find them, we have to do our best to adapt first to the new environment." Kakashi nodded"Alright, first we shall get used to the place around here, then we can start looking." Itachi shook his head. "No. You all three have to adapt here. I'm already tuned to figuring the place out."

"Whats that supposed to mean?!" Jiraiya whined a little. Kakashi sighed. "He means he has at least basic knowledge about this place, so of course he would adjust to the situation first. Now Itachi...how did_ you _adjust so quickly here?"

Itachi closed his eyes, as he began to shroud himself in a shadowy formation, as the figure in it was beginning to shrink. When the shadow stopped, the guys were dumbfounded. Itachi turned himself into an actual crow! It wasn't genjutsu, Kakashi would have seen it. This was real. Sakura was the most surprised. "Wow..."

Crow Itachi bowed, placing a wing on his now feathery chest. "I believe it is time to choose an animal persona, do you agree?"

* * *

_**Back with the others... **_

Jhong lied on his bed in his house, in very deep thought. His eyes were half closed, his breathing was calm, and his tail was motionless. His run in with the wolves has left him thinking. That wolf feom before could have killed him...so why did he stop a mere inch before doing it? It looked like he was worried about the younger wolf, but why would that be so? They don't even know each other. Right?

"Jhong?" He raised his head up slightly. His mother June stood outside his door, smiling gently. "Are you feeling alright? After your mission, I mean?" He sighed, lying back down. "Mom...you ask me that EVERY time. And the answer is the same. I am fine." She just continued to look at him. Now he was feeling a bit off. She might know that he was thinking about a strange subject that hasn't crossed his mind recently. Its one of those weird motherly instincts, supposedly.

She just walked over and petted his head softly. "Are you very sure about this?" Jhong smiled softly. "I am." June smiled, kissing his forehead, and walked away quietly. The young wolf sighed as he managed to sit up again. There was so much that he loved about his mom...such as motherly attention. But today, he just wasn't up for that right now.

"Hey bro!" There was one thing he could put up with today. His little brother Bandit. The pup was a cuter smaller version of him, and a lot more engaging. He jumped next to his older brother and rubbed his head next to his. "Come on! You gotta wake up, your friends are here with serious news! I think..." Being a cub meant that he wasn't exactly smart enough to figure things out just like that. So he was almost completely oblivious to something serious happening unless it looked bad. Jhong petted his head anyway as a thanks for the news. He later went outside to greet his friends.

Or...just Sasuke. Just Sasuke is good enough, he guessed. The hawk stood outside, just eying the sky boringly, waiting for the wolf to come out. "Are you finally finished with whatever you were doing? Because we have something serious to discuss." The wolf nodded as he stood next to him as they walked.

Sasuke groomed his feathers with his beak. Being a hawk gave him some sort of instinct to make himself look presentable, he didn't really mind it much. As long as it didn't hinder his ability to fight. "Look, i'll just cut to the chase. Kung Fu is in danger. We have to help save it, from some tyrannical maniac of some sort. Not too threatening." Jhong nods with affirmation. "How did Naruto respond to this news?" Sasuke huffed. "Like an idiot." _I'll help save Kung Fu! You can count on me! _"A brave idiot, but still an idiot."

"How do you two get along?" Sasuke shrugged. "No one really knows. Our reactions to each other are sometimes random. Other times...its just banter. Friendly banter, silly banter, whatever kind it is." As they were walking along, they met up with two other friends of theirs respectively, Crystal and Naruto.

"And that's another story of how my master cheated me out of my money, so he can spend it on women, and sake. Mostly women." Crystal wide eyed as she took that story. "Oh don't be surprised yet, because I have more." Crystal then giggled. "Maybe later. But right now,you and Po have some preparing to do. I'll go get my own things." Naruto suddenly became very surprised by this. She was coming too? "Before you try to argue against that...Princess Order." Naruto snarled quietly with his canine teeth. "You did it again!" She flicked his nose with a harmless claw. "That is correct." She walked off, as Po walked in, folding his arms.

The boy stared at him, wondering what was the deal. He then saw the smile on his face. "You like her." Naruto blushed as his tail swished. "W-Wha?!" Po patted his back a few times. "You two really seem to get along like good friends. Glad to see that." Sasuke rolled his eyes, then felt Po look at him. "Sasuke, have you gotten all of your things packed?" "Affirmative." Jhong nodded, signifying the same answer. "Execellent! Now, if ya don't mind, we have preparations of our own." With that, he and Naruto were off, as Jhong and Sasuke continued on their way.

Po eventually made it back to his father's shop as Naruto patiently waited outside. He walked inside the structure, looking to greet the goose. Mr. Ping came out of nowhere, and surprise hugged him. "Po! Are you alright?!" He merely laughed abit as he gently let his father hug him. "Dad come on...I'm totally fine. Its okay, really." The goose sighed as he released his hold on the panda, and walked to his counter, continuing to his cooking. "I worry for you Po. Shifu says that you have those sleep spells once in a while. everyone is worried if you are alright. Me and Tigress especially." Po sighed. "Not gonna mention Naruto?" The goose sighed as well, stirring in a pot. "Po...I think we both figured out by now that Naruto is a strong believer. He believes you are very strong and very spirited, just like him. You have to take it upon yourself to prove him right."

Po nodded silently, thinking about Naruto's first word when he counted himself a member of the Valley. _Home..._ He then rubbed his head, as he laughed a little. "You make it sound like I'm his more brotherly teacher." Mr. Ping nodded. He didn't think it would actually be that, so Po just said: "Ohhhh...yeah. Yeah, I guess I can do that!" He reminded himself. "And Sasuke too. Can't leave him behind!" He smiled, as he grabbed a pack of food Ping cooked the other day. Naruto suddenly popped in. "Hey dude! You ready?" "Yeah, let's go!" Po walked alongside Naruto, as they chatted with the others. "Gongmen is home to a lot of things. But that doesn't make it the safest place, for the person we have to stop. This is an entire culture we're saving."

Sasuke smirked, looking at Naruto, fluffling his feathers. "Sounds like our first major mission here. Don't get in my way Naruto." The fox snarled again. "Again with that?!" The Masters laughed at their banter.

Jhong was still getting ready at his house, when his mother and brother came in, smiling. "Shifu is letting us join you." The teen wolf almost hit his head. "What?! Don't you know how dangerous it could be?! Why would you want to come?!" June smiled as she turned. "A parent has to be there to support their child, right?" Bandit nodded. "Siblings count too!"

Jhong sighed, rubbing his nose. _There are times I wished I wasn't so obedient..._

* * *

**_Alright, I'm done with this one. Next Chapter will feature the entire journey to Gongmen, as I try to make it...whatever. Sorry if I'm slipping a bit. There are always mistakes whenever one writes, I guess. Oh, reviews. Reviews are appreciated. And so I will continue to work on this as best as I can, alright?_**

**_Anyway, until next time!_**


	16. Forest Fires And Disturbing Dreams

**Words of wisdom. School ssucks most when its almost over, because that's when they REALLY barrage you with 's why updates are so freaking slow. Now that's out of the way, Please enjoy if you can!**

* * *

With the preparations somewhat complete, the group was out and about with heading to Gongmen. Po took the chance to actually lead this mission, since much of the others were lead by by either Tigress or Crane. He actually wanted to take lead for on this he felt this was really important for him. This was one of those chances he took when he gets that feeling. Especially since Kung Fu itself was at stake of elimination. That was something he simply cannot allow to happen. He needed to find who would try something like this and stop him. He's also doing this to look reliable to Naruto and Sasuke. He wanted a positive influence on them.

Naruto was easier to impress than anyone expected. He eventually learned that he didn't even have to abandon most of his ninja skills. He can even supply some of them to Kung Fu. He had yet to want to try them though. Shifts, who chose to stay and watch the Valley, figured Naruto was a learner of experience. If he can apply ninja skills to Kung Fu, then he should be able to learn for himself. He's had quite the amount of confidence in him, so Naruto doesn't want that to new wasteful.

Sasuke..wasn't so easy to impress. But Po did have his moments. Quick-Time events, but the events were still kinda impressive to the boy. Such as his discovery of his keen hawk vision somewhat improved his Sharingan prowess to an extent. Eyes have gotten a little clearer in vision ever since. He was now under partial teachings of Fenghuang, since he somehow convinced her it was a good idea. No one knows why...but like Naruto...He's very persuasive.

There was the mountains that they had to climb over first in order to cross them. Climbing was definitely not one of Po's strongpoints. Which is why...

"Monkey, you're gonna have to help carry him upwards." Tigress said blankly. "What?! Why me?" He was a bit flabbergasted at his assigned task, as Naruto and Crystal laughed a bit. The foxes have been becoming very good friends with one another. "Unless you wanna feed him instead when it's lunch time?" Silence.

Monkey silently looked at the mountain, then at Tigress. He then sighed in defeat. Even though the comparison didn't make a lot of sense to him, defying Tigress either way was not the path he was capable of taking, or else it would be a very painful Day for him. "Alright big guy...up we go..." Naruto sighed. He felt sympathy primate, and decided to help out.. Monkey saw this, greatly appreciating the assist. Someone was showing him some mercy.

Naruto, like Monkey, was not having fun with this task. "Geez Po...do you weigh 300 pounds?!" Po shook his head. "290, tops." Naruto sweatdropped. "Dude...that was rhetorical. " Sauske doubted he knew what that meant, but chose not to say anything. After a few more minutes of pointless struggling... the panda fell on them, causing a few grunts of pain.

"Hehe...sorry about that." He immediately lifted himself off of them, as they struggled to breathe. If it wasn't for Naruto's special healing factor, his ribs would have been broken. Instead...he's just comically hurt. Viper and Crystal quickly rushed by his side and helped him up. "Thanks guys. I mean...gals." Sasuke snickered a little bit. Clearly he found that moment hilarious, and he wasn't one to smile often. Monkey kept his paw in his chest, and he decided to never try that again. But he knew that eventually he'll have to Anyway, so it was pointless. Jhong honestly found that funny, and was not afraid to laugh about it with Mantis.

"Okay...climbing that mountain is not gonna be easy to accomplish. We'll need our supplies of ropes, a hook, and some- " Just then, Crane came flying in the area, tipping his hat as his scarf flowed through the air. "Alright...I have some info we need on the area I looked over." Bandit nodded, prompting his mother to gently pet him for his enthusiasm. "What is it? " The avian continued. "Looks like we really don't have to climb this mountain the hard way." Monkey sighed. "How do you suppose that?"

"By using that long flight of stairs over there." They saw the stairs spiraling upwards the mountain, which also lead to a gate that continues to lead to their destination. Tigress nodded. "Good. Let's go." Tigress is usually not the social type, which is why it's easier for her to get serious on her missions. That did not mean She was above a nice chat while on one. Setting aside their frustration of not noticing the stairs sooner, the group made their way up the flight of returned to the skies, still keeping an aerial view of the roads ahead of them as they climbed.

Crystal, Jhong, and Naruto decided to have a social chat of their own, since nothing was really happening right at the moment. They were pretty much just discussing the basis of how Naruto thought of his new life so far. "It's...definitely not bad. It's actually pretty cool to hang out in a completely different culture." Sasuke managed to read Naruto in some sort of way. He didn't really give up his dream of Hokage. But found it best to just...set it to the side. It's not something he liked, but adapting was necessary.

"I see. And what do you plan on doing?" Jhong asked honestly, causing Naruto to think. "I guess...it would be to be my own master in Kung Fu. There is a "Fox" style, right?" Crystal shrugged. It kinda makes sense. A custom style for Po to make his weaknesses his strengths. Naruto may take this as a chance to further get used to things here. Becoming a Master was a new goal he shall achieve to make up for the compromising situations he finds himself and Sasuke in. Besides, having another arsenal of fighting skills is never a bad idea.

Po was leisurely talking with June as they continued to walk along the path. "As you kinda know already...your son is a really great guy in his own way, right?" June nodded with a simple smile. "Jhong is really a very smart and respectful boy. Though...he's had some tough times, just like the rest of us. He doesn't like talking too much about his own concerns, not wanting anyone to be held back because of him." Po rubbed his neck. "Yeah...I kinda know a feeling like that, ya just want to help as best as you can, but not while worrying your friends. There's always a risk of that."

June sighed. "I know...I try not to worry much, because he has friends like you and Crystal. Crystal was friends with him longer than most would guess. Which is why I don't worry about the two so often." Po seemed to understand this. He senses a playful yet close connection between the fox and wolf. Po also feels something weird between Naruto and Crystal. But has no clear idea on what it is yet.

Sasuke was casually listening to these conversations, not really caring a lot for them. He wanted to get this done as soon as possible. But he couldn't deny that he was somewhat excited for this little expedition of theirs. As soon as he started thinking that, he was hearing something inside of his head. _Sasuke...come...to me..._

He shook his head, trying to rid himself of the eerie voice. _Where are you, Sasuke Uchiha? I can't find you anywhere...i'm growing a little impatient..._The hawk slapped his head a few times, trying to focus. His Curse Mark was still visible on his feathers, as he snarled a little. "Now is not the time for that...he is not gonna do this to me now..."

Naruto remembered this little ordeal of Sasuke's, and did a swish of his tail. Sasuke nodded. He was stronger than this. He can pull through some stupid mark on his neck, he didn't need it. He rethought that. No...he can't go saying that. No matter how wrong it is, he'll get worked up enough for it to activate on its own. So keeping it out of existence was surely out of the question.

Once they made it up the mountain path, they see another road ahead of them. It was comprised of a somewhat dense forest that looked like it went in the direction they seek. With leadership from Po and Tigress, they continue on with a mere nod. It wasn't one of those super creepy, thriller forests, but it was just very dark and very shady. Very good for ambushes.

Speaking of ambushes...

The wolf pack were watching them from afar, in the shadows. Jao smirked. "Well well, following us, are they? Now why would they try to do that?" Hao sighed. "What they're being sent to do. Stop our boss's plan. We have to stall them, while the other takes another part of the pack to bring word to him." Jao looked at his brother for a moment. Hao wondered why he looked at him..then blew a puff of air.

"Fine. You deal wthe them, I don't care how." Jao grinned. "Very nice of you to trust me with this assignment, brother. I assure you that there will be satisfactory results..." Hao sighed. "You just want to mess them, don't you?" "What do you expect? I'm bored."

Hao sighed at his brothers eagerness. He just rubbed his head stressfully as he just told him to stall as long as they could, and left with half of the pack. Jao snickered, and gestured to his half of the pack. "Boys...do you still have those fuses? The leaves on these trees look pretty flammable..."

As the group walked, Po surveyed the area. The leaves were so thick that there were few openings that could give them views of the sky. He checked back to his friends. They all seemed pretty relaxed on this missions of theirs. He can barely tell what Sasuke is thinking though. He always had that uninterested look on his face that makes it impossible to tell what he is thinking.

Tigress suddenly stopped in front of everyone, leaving them confused. Sasuke eventually took notice of her halt, and looked around. She did as well. "Did you hear that?" Po also found himself noticing something wrong with the air.

"I don't hear much...but I kinda smell something...burning. It couldn't be, right?" Sasuke kept his Sharingan active as he looked forward. He was picking up smoke, he could tell because he was seeing right through it. "It's a forest fire! Someone's trying to divert our path." Jhong groaned. "There should be a riverbank somewhere nearby. We should use it to put the flames out!" Crane cautiously took to the skies to find that river.

"Everyone else try to stall this fire, and get whoever is stuck between any debris or just need help! Go!" Po and Tigress shout as Everyone took off in different directions as Jhong stayed close to his mother and brother as they tried to find a safe place away from the flames.

Naruto, Viper and Crystal took off in one path as they tried to find a way to stall this roaring fire. The fire almost caught on to the foxes coat of fur as they dodged the flames. Naruto slid and ducked as one big tree trunk narrowly missed him. Viper picked him back up as they kept moving.

"Any ideas?" Naruto eventually asked, as he tried to survey a solution. It was painfully obvious that they were nowhere near they water. Viper reacted first. "The fire is a growing concern, but focus more on getting any possible citizens around here out of the area!" Crystal understood, and took off in one direction. Naruto, out of worry, closely followed behind her, as Viper took off on her own. "They'll be Fine..."

Naruto and Crystal checked their path for any signs of anyone who could be in serious trouble here and there. They managed to get a family of ducks to evacuate their home, other than that, it was a pretty simple task. With a firm nod for the both of them, they dashed for the rendezvous point.

There was a lot of smoke coming into the air now, it was clear that this fire needed to be extinguished soon, in fear of being completely enveloped in it. For this to fully work, the two had to stay together until they regrouped with the rest. Naruto found this a first priority. They finished with their area right now.

**_Might wanna look to your right._**

"Wha-gah!" He was sent hurtling into the trees by an unknown force. Which wasn't so unknown, as a wolf cackled at his predicament, and his buddies surrounded the fox. Kurama sure took his time with the warning. Thanks for nothing, is what he would say, if he wasn't hovering under a cloud of smoke.

_What is it with these damn wolves?! I ssee them more than I see my own reflection! And I look good. _Naruto stood back up as he dusted himself off. "Alright guys, I already know you're not gonna talk, so let's just do this." Not needing another invitation, the canines charged the fox. He dodged the first strike and tripped the first wolf. The next one tried to slash him with their claws, and he ducked as he kicked one behind him.

Naruto then managed to knock a sword out of their hands and run past one as he jumped onto another. He popped back up. He realized, these wolves were only goons. So not a lot of skill is needed to just punch them out and be done with them. He admittedly would have been Okay with doing this all Day, but he was focused on keeping Crystal away from them.

But them he sensed a large amount of killer intent heading his way as he looked behind him. "Who's there?"

To his surprise, Po came out panting profusely as he tried to catch his breath. "Dude?" The panda stood up as he held a paw out. "Hey...buddy. Crane found...some water, and will be able to put out this first pretty soon!" Naruto sighed. "Was that killer intent just a hoax?" "Oh no that was real. There's a wolf behind us and he looks like a leader."

Po looked behind him to see he was right. A wolf has been following him to his current spot, and he snickered. "'Ello boys."

Po stood in front of Naruto as he stared down the wolf, and asked a rather off question. "Sup?" Jao deadpanned a little before laughing. "The name is Jao, my fat and furry friend. I'm not here for a fight, I just needed to delay you for a while." The panda sighed. "Why would you delay us?" "Because it's FUN!"

Po wasn't one to judge on sight...but he knew this wolf was a bit of a wackjob...a killer wackjob. A killer wackjob with a pack of slightly less killer wackos who will follow him everywhere. Yep. They were going in tje right direction Alright. Po just sighed. Then when he began to speak again, a small drizzle of water began to rain down on them lightly, but enough to make the flames die down a little. Po sighed in extreme relief.

"OhThank Goodness, I thought I had to keep talking to this guy." Jao sighed. "Your bird friend succeeded after all, that's not a lot of fun. Oh well, guess I'll meet up with the boss."

Naruto snarled. "Hey! We're not just gonna let you get away again!" "Too late! SMOKESCREEN!" He threw a pellet at the ground as he was covered in smoke. A few moments after, Jao was already long gone. This frustrated the teen fox greatly, but was at least happy that the fire was finally stopped. They were beginning to worry for a moment.

After that little ordeal out of the way,Everyone regrouped to the original path they were on. After a little rolecall was initiated by Tigress, it seemed as though Sasuke was the only one not present at the moment. They were about to send a little search for him, when he came walking from inside the woods, holding something in his wings.

Crystal came from a different direction, wondering what he was holding. But before any of them could ask what exactly he was holding, he merely shushes them quietly. Naruto for one didn't take it very likely. But when Sasuke shushes him again, then showed him what was in his wings, they understood why he was so quiet. In his wings was a small tiny red robin looking very terrified as she instinctively snuggled further into his feathers. Sasuke didn't have avery visisble react to this, but it was clear that he was at least a bit concerned for it's condition. Naruto for one was surprised, this is a side of Sasuke that he didn't see often.

Viper being Viper, slowly slithered up to get a better look. "What happened?" Sasuke gave her a better look. "I found her quivering near a burned nest. She's too shaken to even talk about what happened, but she's trust me enough to stay near me." The robin looked at the faces in front of her, then ushed her face back into his feathers. Everyone sighed a bit. She must have been scared stiff, and its apparent that she was not going to speak any time soon. Sasuke sigd in a fit of stress. She coln't go ho, because its pretty much burned to ashes. And she can't stay here, too dangerous. He had no choice.

"I have to bring her with me." Everyone was a little surprised by his choice. Then he voiced why. "I don't know how old she is, or even her name...but she's definitely not old enough to be out here alone. I will accept responsibility for her until further notice."

Po was impressed by Sasuke's sudden feeling for hospitality, and smiled. "Alrighty then, should we keep moving?" June and Bandit seem to agree to this idea, and so did everyone else. Jhong sniffed the air, and pointed. "Here. Our original patth was heading in this direction for sure." Po nodded with a smile. "Alrighty then, let's go!" He turned...and hit his head on a tree. "GAH! Golly that hurts!"

Crystal giggled, holding paws to her muzzle, as Sasuke smirked. "Well now I know why Po and Naruto get along so well. Their brain size is just aound the same." Naruto would have taken it for a compliment...then remembered those related insults in the past.

"SAY THAT AGAIN!"

* * *

After a while, they finally made it to sea, all they had to do was sail to Gongmen now. As of right now, the entire group was in deep sleep. The only one who wasn't _peacefully _sleeping, was Po. He was in the middle of some pretty uncomfortable images.

_Po was sanding in the middle of somere dark, and hidden. He had no way of telling whether or not where he was, he literally could not see a thing. As he waited a few more moments to see what would happen next, something finally appeared before him, facing him. Po would have greeted, but he was too busy feeling tuly and utterly helpless at the moment. This guy...the only things he can identify about him were the dark blue eyes, his swishing tail, the scales, and the sadistic smirk etched across its face._

_This wasn't what was bothering Po though. What bothered him was the massive amount of killing intent whatever this thing was giving off. He seriously could not wrap his head around whatever this is. The figure approached him silently, then creepily rubbed Po's cheek. _

_"Up and at em' panda. You aren't ready for this kind of agony yet." _

At that disturbingly straight forboding, he quickly woke up. Panting profusively, he noticed that everyone was out kf bed and looking at something with murmurs and awes. He wanted to see what it was. He saw that Sasuke still holds the robin in his wings, and that she has just about calmed down for the night. He then saw Tigress looking at him expectantly.

"Hey Ti. Whats going on?" She ignored this question by asking her own. "Po...are you alright?" Hid smile diminished as he sighed. She picked up his facial featrues right when he walked outside. Something clearly scared him stiff,and it made the group nervous. After a full minute of silence, he shook his head. "Just a bad dream, I guess. Nothing important." Tigress then gave him a cold look...but inside it was actually worry.

"Po. Your facial features inidcate thst you were downright terrified of whatever you saw. So clearly it wasn't nothing. You know you can tell me. I'll listen." Po sighed as he rubbed his head. "Nah, i'm fine. Really, I am. I just to shrug it off, that's all. Just shrug it off...anyway, whatvare you guys doing?"

Sasuke pointed to two particular teens to answer. Naruto and Crystal were currently going on about an interesting subject. "The training? At this time of night?"

"Better right now while we have the time. Since the boat isn't giving us enough room to pratice actual ninja movement, we'll start with what I think is simple for you." The fox jumped over the railing, and stuck a landing right onto the water. He looked back at Crystal, who's eyes sparkled at his display. "Pretty neat, huh?"

Crystal nodded as she kept watching the fox move across the water. "That is freaking amazing!" After a few more minutes of water walking, he made his way back to her, smiling. "Alright Princess. Come on."

She panicked a little. "Wait, you mean right now? Uh...I don't think i'm ready, I mean we just started and all and-" Naruto silenced her by gently grabbing on to her paw. "If you don't make the attempt, then you'll never know if you can do it. Now come on, you can do this." Crystal blushed brightly when he both grabbed her paw and looked at her with those blue ocean eyes of his. "O-Okay..."

Naruto nodded. "Alright. Like Po said, chakra and chi aren't significantly different, so we can still use them. Now, just focus some chi on the soles of your feet. Then try to adjust it to match the flow of the water. Since this water is calm, it is a good place to start. Ready?"

Crystal was still nervous about this, it was seen through her tail. "How about this. If you feel like you're gonna sink, let me know so I can carry you back to the boat." This gave her some comfort. He never released her paw. So with this, she stepped onto the water as slowly as she could. Her feet...actually stayed on top of it. "W-Wow! I'm doing it!"

Naruto smiled. "Yeah. Now let's start with a simple walk. As much as i'd like to speed things up, i much rather see if you can manage that." Nodding, the princess kept hold of his paw as they slowly walked across the water away from the boat. They then turned and made their way back. "Hey! I think i got it!" Right when she said that, she lost control and almost fell into the water. Naruto quickly caught her. "Woah! Easy!"

She panted as she looked at the water. "That was close. I almost fell into cold water..." "Don't be upset. The skill is tough, but then it becomes second nature with time." A call from Jhong and Bandit told them that Gongmen was over the horizon. "Alright, thats enough for now. Upsie daisy!" He quickly through her up a little then caught her in his arms. He walked back to the boat, carrying Crystal bridal style. She blushed immensely, but he didn't notice.

Meanwhile the robin in Sasuke's wings began to chirp quietly, bringing his attention. "Awake now,?" "Y-Yes." She was indefinitely nervous, so he had to be patient. "Do you have a name, first of all?" The little robin nodded quietly. "M-Mai..."

Sasuke nodded. "I am Sasuke Uchiha." Mai smiled genuinely. "Master Sasuke?" The hawk was utterly confused by this, but chose not to worry much about it.

Po meanwhile stared out as they appraoched Gongmen, still visibly shaken by what he's seeing in these dreams. It was getting constant, and it being constant means a message was trying tl be sent.

_What's happening to me?_

* * *

**_That ends another chapter. No much to say after that, except review. Its a nice thing to do and it really helps a bit. Goodbye people!_**


	17. In The City

**Another chapter up. That's pretty much it.**

* * *

It took quite a while for them to actually get to where they needed to go. But they finally made it to the city that seem to be a major part of their problems at the moment. The place they call Gongmen City? No, they were most certainly in the right place, because there were very few cities that were as big as this one. And there were two other cities that are bigger than this one, but those are meant to be secret for the time being, as it wasn't important right now. They had more pressing matters that needed to be attended as soon as possible.

Naruto however, could not help but gaze at the view. There were numerous amounts of structures as far as he could see, small ones and then the really big structures. Specially that really big one in the middle of the city...it looks really important for a reason that seems to escape his mind. Wonder how long it's been standing? Looks like it's been a long time.

Crystal sighed slightly. "Welp...here's Gongmen again...Hoorah..." Everyone but Jhong and his mother looked at her strangely. She didn't sound like she was excited to be here. Not that excited at all. Po became curious of this. "What? You've been here before?" She nods slightly. "Well don't just leave us hanging, do you know anything that might be...I dunno...useful?"

She shrugged a little. "I do know that Jhong was born here in Gongmen. And that his entire family lived here before his dad was called off to join some army of some sort. The details were never clear. He just told me his dad left and that was it..."

Jhong quietly nods as he looksout to the city. "Yeah...I was born here. Not really the best thing though. It's not the worst thing, but it wasn't one of my best years..." Sasuke and Mai saw the look that crossed his eyes. They had a piece of loneliness and hurt emotions... along with unknown pride. Why that was swirling around, they won't figure out soon. But since he's known the place, maybe he can give them a very helpful paw.

As the boat stops at the port, everyone gets off and stealthily moves past all of the guards in that area. What frustrated Naruto quite an amount...they were wolves. He's not pinning it against Jhong June or Bandit, but wolves are becoming his number one nuisance around here. It was really getting on his nerves.

_At least there won't be do many wolves after this. I really don't wanna deal with anymore than I'm willing to...Jhong's family is the only one's I can stand... _

As they continued their way around the multiple guards at the widened area, they finally got a more up close look at the city from a rooftop. The place was flooded with citizens of geese, rabbits, pigs, and sheep just wanting to get on with their business and keep moving. Because...wolves. Lots of them, all over the place, watching the citizens like they were prisoners, commoners...maybe even potential food.

**_Hey, look at that, boy. It's- _**_Don't you start. _Naruto cuts Kurama off, which only made him snicker.

Tigress had everyone duck under cover for a few moments. "Okay, it's clear that just walking around in a wolf majority city is a serious risk of getting caught. So we're gonna have to split up in multiple groups to cover more ground and reduce detection. So first off..." She deadpanned. "Where's Sasuke?"

Crystal carelessly waved her paw in a 'whatever' fashion. "He left after 'walking around'." Crane nervously stretched his blue scarf a little. "Didn't even hear him and Mai fly off...maybe I taught him a little too much...Nah."

Tigress rubbed her temples. "Okay..he's scouting on his own...so we'll split up, like I said. I'll take the team with me. Po, you can take Crystal, Jhong and Naruto to the west of town. I'll take Bandit and June and keep them safe, and APPARENTLY Sasuke took Mai and flew off without saying anything, so we'll leave it be for now. Everyone understand this?"

Naruto grumbled. "I wanted to go solo for once...Sasuke trumped me...AGAIN!" Crystal smiled. "Well... look on the bright side. You get to hang with me again! And I get to hang with you, except we're spies!" The orange fox huffed. "Ninja is more like it. This will be easy."

Jhong shrugged. "If you say so, because we can't get into any fights that will draw suspicion to us. On second thought...try not to fight, period." This made Naruto groan. "So more sneaking, less action? Lame!"

Tigress sighed. "Don't give us away, Naruto. Or else." He defiantly huffed a bit. "Or else What? I'm not scared of you!" Tigress growled and basically towered over the orange fox letting off immense annoyed rage. He sshivered. "Okay...maybe a little scared..." She just huffed and stood. "Everyone scatter. Swiftly and quietly. " On her order, Tigress jumps off with the five and the wolf mother and cub. Po had his own group go in another direction, with he himself leading.

Po lead hisgroup on, as he manages to help himself slip past many guards blocking hid paths. His appearance makes it very easy for them to identify him, so he needs to at least try to be sneaky. So far...that isn't really going well. He was tiptoeing past a duo of wolves in a dark alley, and accidentally stepped in a water puddle.

"Hey! Who are you?" Po flinched. _Ah cripes... _They then got a better look at him. "Hey, hold on...Are you a pan- " the wolves were instantly knocked out by two blurs of slight orange and black. Naruto and Jhong tackled the wolves into the ground, knocking them out. "I thought you would be stealthy..." Po glared. "Look at this! Is this easy to hide?" Po held his stomach, and Jhong sighed. "Good point. I guess..." _  
_

Po rolled his eyes as he pulled the wolves away from the spot and hid them somewhere. He then proceeded to lead them even further across the streets as they stayed hidden from view. Naruto kept his eyes and ears open for any clues that may be able to help them in their search. Jhong was able to proceed a bit easier than the others, since he too is a wolf. Crystal managed to slip by multiple wolves with ease.

Jhong looks through the streets in search of anything that may provide something useful. Until he came across a building filled with numerous wolves, a few boars ,and crocs as well. He looked up. "Guys...I think this is a bar."

Naruto looked at him, not getting it.

"We're gonna have to go inside the bar and try to find answers that can help out." Crystal raises an eyebrow. There were plenty of reasons why this was a _bad _idea. For one, these are one of those places usually filled with criminals. Another, bars are always filled with untrustworthy characters, such as criminals. And her least favorite...these are places where young women like her end up missing.

One croc eying her mischievously further supports her hesitation. She then found herself holding Naruto's arm, staying as close to him as She possibly could. "Jhong...are you sure this is the best place to ask about Shen? This is really making me uncomfortable..."

Jhong sighed. "I don't like the idea either. Which is Why only Po and I are gonna go inside. You two are younger, so you should probably just wait out here until we're done."

Crystal now heard the crocs whistle at her. She held Naruto's arm even tigher. "Can we go on our own investigation? We promise not to get into any trouble, just PLEASE don't make us stand here in a dark alley." Jhong calmly sighed.

"I see you're nervous. Fine, just stay together." Po said with a slight smile, as he and Jhong made their way inside. "Let's hope these gentlemen don't room a lot of pounding at people..."

As the two walked into the bar in a calm fashion, Naruto and Crystal walked into another area of interest, as they calmly passed by the guards in question. They consider them a minor threat, judging by their appearance. Which was good, in a stealthy kind of way.

Most of the citizens in the city just eyed them without a second glance, but sometimes the stares lasted only a bit longer. They weren't all suspicious looks, It's just that foxes weren't always seen in Gongmen...and that's Why there is suspicion. Naruto for one, was used to theses kinds of looks, but he doubts that Crystal was comfortable with it. She keeps looking back and forth as if someone was going to snatch them. Gongmen branded with a label that says 'safe'.

As they walked quietly they saw the faces of the citizens again. They realize that most of their faces looked sad, a little angry...and scared. Honestly to them, it seems as though they under some sort of opression. Again, Naruto has seen situations like this, but he never would have that they would give in to these wolves so easily. Which gave him the impression that the city had protectors. And if those protectors aren't doing what they are honored to do, then that only means two things. One: They aren't honorable at all and they donc't care. But NAruto hung around in China long enough to know that honor is something held in high regard. Which leads to the second theory: They tried they're best to fight back, but it wasn't enough. Then there's only one thing to ask.

"Ay Crystal? Isn't there some sort of leadership over the city or something?"Naruto asked after a few more minutes of walking.

Crystal nodded. "Kinda. The Kung Fu Council are a small group of Master's that preside and protect the city and try to make decisions that are beneficial to the city and its growth. Looks like the enemy in question has restrained them into not doing anyhing to help. We should try to find them." Crystal then sighed. "Yet we don't know the first place to look..."

"HEY!" The teen kitsunes froze in plac for a moment. Naruto looks behind him to see a wolf eying them with bad intentions. "What are you doing out here? Could have sworn that we put curfew's for teens..." This made the two deadpan.

"It's the middle of the morning."

"Iknow." They then got what this meant. They might have forced numerous innocent people to just give in to their fears of disobedience, but no way they were going to be one of them. Naruto pointed outwards. "Hey what's over there." The wolf turns around, and Cystal pounds him on the head with a frying pan, instantly knocking him out. Naruto awed at ths. "Not what I was going for...but okay."

Crystal giggled a little as she carefully gave the pan back to the sheep she was talking to. "Thanks miss." That's when they noticed that another platowere beginning to head their way. "Okay time to leave!" The wolves saw them run off, and immediately gave chase.

**(Back with The Guys) **

Po looked around nervously as numerous amounts of would be criminals were eying him and Jhong as if they were easy targets. Now Po himself was a bit nervous right now. "Okay...maybe asking a group of bad guys about a crazy bad guys...isn't the best idea after all..." He was twitching a little. Jhong resisted the urge to either roll his eyes, or snicker. To avoid confliction in his brain, he did both.

"It's going to be alright Po. We just gotta around to see what the people know about Shen. Quick in and out." Jhong says as if it were an easy task, which it probably was, but who could tell for sure? Not Po. "Look, just stay with me and we'll be sure to-" He dodged an incoming random blow from another wolf in the place, and he looke at him in surprise. _Nott so easy after all..._

"Care to explain why a pup is stalking around a grown-ups area?" Jhong didn't flinch much from the rude gesture and just dusted himself off. He then looked at the wolf af if nothing happened. "Ah. Wolf bretheren, I only ask for infromation on certain things that interest me and my friend here." Po managed to shake off his nervousness and nod with approval.

Couple more wolves began to surround them both, which made Jhong stand his ground as Po was truly no longer jumpy. "Oh yeah? What is this 'certain infromation' that you reqiure from us?" Jhong did not stray away, neither did Po. "We're asking around about Lord Shen." All the wolves in the area suddenly perked their ears up as they glared at them. "You wanna know about our Boss? Why?"

One of the wolves sat up from his seat. "Isn't it obvious? They both want to stop our boss from fulfilling his desire and denying us our pay. Get them!" He then ran out of the building as almost all the suspicious characters began to gang up on them. It made Po nervous. "C'mon guys...can't we be buddies about this?" A random croc slashed his ax at him, and he dodged to the right, making him sweatdrop. "I'm taking that as a...no?" He said nervously.

Soon after, Jhong punched the croc out, knocked to the floor. All the other bandits ran straght at him and tried to attack with swords, Po kicked all of the swords out of their hands and punches them in multiple directions while stopping another axe from slashing at Jhong again. Jhong caught a sword in his paws and deflceted multiiple attacks sent their way by most of them. Jhong dodges another attack whike rolling on the ground. He much rather prefers no fighting.

Po kept bandits on watch, honestly he didn't really want to deal with this right now. One hammer was being launched at his head and he ducks so it crashed right into another bandit's skull and he went down quickly and Po caught the hammer in his paws. One flurry of punches and a kick sent him fying into the counter.

He looked back up, and saw that all bandits in the area were down for the count. He forgot. These bandits have close to zero actual fighting sense that can even attempt to be a threat to them. Now Po felt kind of awkward, but Jhong was completely calm as he walked up to the counter. The person behind it was asleep the entire time. Jhong gently shook the goat awake.

"Now can you tell us about Lord Shen?" Jhong asked as if nothing happened. Elder just shrugged his shoulders. "Can't tell ya much. Just as clueless as the rest." He sighed a little. "But those young'ns of yours were being chased away by another group of wolves a few minutes ago." Jhong and Po jawdropped. They feel very exhaususted from their obvious miscalculation.

"Why didn't you say anything before?"

"I'm just in charge of the bar, bro." Po just groaned loudly at their predictament. "Alright...let's go get them."

**(Back with the duo) **

Crystal dragged Naruto along as they continued to try and shake the wolves off their tails. They have been chased around a whole bunch of structures ever since they began fleeing. As much as Naruto likes to stay and fight, an army was a little too much for someone in his age and skill. It's not cowardly, but he feels as if it is. Then they turned a corner and hid as the platoon began to pass them by.

After a few more minutes, Crystal sighed in relief and breathed litte. "Oh man that was close. Thought we'd never get away from them..." After a few more moments, Naruto then decided to say something. "Very cool. Now...can you kinda...let go of my paw?" She widened her eyes and let go, turning the other way. "Yeah...hehe...we should probably keep going anyway." She blushed slightly. She began walking away, when Naruto quickly stopped her.

"Don't think we need to move anymore. Check this out." Crystal turned around to see what he meant. She then became very interested. "It's Gongmen Jail! And my mom says running away from authority doesn't help you succeed." Naruto laughed. "You shoulda known me when I was younger. Then you'd know how to run from authority."

Crystal nodded, and looked at the door, eying it curiously. "We should try to find the key for this..."

"I got your key right here!" Naruto formed Rasengan in his paw, snickering. "I'm gonna blast it open! And don't try to talk me out of it, pretty sure getting caught by the wolves is already pretty likely." The vixen blinked. "What are ya talking about? Blast that sucker open!"

Naruto also blinked. _I am really starting to like her... _

He launched the ball of wind right into the wooden door, and it was blasted into splinters and dust. When it cleared, they proceeded into the warehouse, where a couple more wolves went to investigate the blast. Naruto jumped up, wrapped his tail around one's head, and pulled him to the ground headfirst. He was really starting to like having an actual tail. Another pair of wolves missed him and he leg sweeped the both of them and kicks another in the chest. Naruto realized that very few guards were set to actually patrol here. Evil warehouses have really bad security.

One wolf already made his way outof the prison to spread the alarm, but Crystal pounced him from behind. "Yeah...no." She tied him up, and put him in a lone cage with the others. Just as she did that, the Five, and Po came in with good timin. Jhong offered to stay with his family, and outside. Tigress came up to Naruto and patted his head. "Nice work." He smiled and folds his arms. "I try. I really do." The Five decided to keep guard outside and let Po, Naruto and Crystal free the innocent jailmates.

They turn to see the prisoners in question. Storming Ox and Croc. Just lying there in their cells, looking as if they aren't moving anytime soon. This irked all three of their curiosities. "Why do they look so sullen?" Po said after a while. They both looked up at them, slightly confused. "Who are you, and what are you doing here?" Ox asked. He looked at the foxes. Who are the brats?"

**"BRATS?!"** They both shouted in utter disbelief. "We're trying to bust you guys outta here! What's with that attitude?!" Naruto shouted again. Croc seemed to shift nervously.

He then stared back at the ground. "Why would you want to do that?" Po then steps forward towards the bars. "We need your help. We have no idea what he's planning,and we had a feeling you guys might have clues as if what he might be up to." Ox looked down to him. There was a brief description of what Shen could be doing. In shorter simpler terms, he has built a cannon capable of neutrailising Kung Fu with fire balls made of metal that are difficult to dodge, even more difficult to defend against. This made all three of them slightly nervous.

_Metal fireballs...something tells me they hurt a hell of a lot more than regular fireballs...so much more..._ Naruto thought. Thoughts were broken when Crystal spoke up. "Where's Thundering Rhino?"

Croc sighed. "Shen tested the cannon on him first...since he was the most resistant...it didn't end well for him. He's critically injured, and Shen decided to keep a closer ey on him by imprisoning him in his own castle." The three were extremely worried fo Rhino all of a sudden. Po stood up. "Well then, we gotta go free him! Break free of those bars so we can go!" Po asked this for two reasons. He knew the Masters can get out any time they wanted. And the other one...is why haven't they done it already. His guess was proven correct as Ox suddenly sat back down in his bunk. "We're not going."

Now the three were more shocked than they were confused. "W-What?!" "Shen has an entire supply of those cannons frm all the metal he's gathered. We try to interfere, he'll tear the city apart. We're staying here so that the citizens are safe." Po wasn't believing this.

"You're serious? Why would you think that just sitting here is helping them?! Many of them are suffering because you're refusing to help them!" Ox wasn't moved. "You don't think we know this? We'e doing this for their own good. Protecting them." "And you consider leavng them at the hands of a tyrant protecting them?" Ox sighed behind the cage. "We don't expect you to get it. You're just children."

Crystal was visibly hurt by this, as Po looked like he was going to rant. Luckily, Naruto was a back-up. "So that's it? You're just going to give up and sit there?" Ox now looked at the fox. "We didn't say that-" "You are leaving innocent people to rot at the wings of a mentally ill pyschopath with a inferiority AND a pyromaniac. Pretty sure you guys gave up at the wrong time. Which is EVER."

Ox was silent for a moment, as Croc was feeling uncomfortable. Naruto steps back. "And to top that off, you're abandoning your comrade! Your leader! Your friend..." Po nodded while folding his arms. "You guys are an awesome trio, and i'n sure Rhino would have never sat down here just to wait for something to happen. He's calm and collected, but he also knows when it's time to just step in and take a chance. He would have chosen now to act."

Ox looked down on them both, feeling thier chests tighten. "What's your point?" Naruto turned his back, head hanging. "I moved to China a few months ago so I could have another life. I messed up big time, and my goal is to make sure that doesn't happen again. Kung Fu was my way to really try and connect to the new culture i'm surrounded by. And it's fun, since it's very similar to my old one. I'm not just gonna watch some creep destroy that culture, not when I just began to get used to it. So fine, be cowards. We'll just rescue Rhino and stop this guy without you." With that, Naruto began to walk away. Po felt kinda proud, as did Crystal, as they followed him to the exit.

"You need to get your heads straight. What you're trying to do is foolish." Croc sighed. Ox slumped as he looked at Naruto. "Don't bother, kid. Kung Fu...is dead." Naruto stopped in his tracks, as his tail lied on the ground for a full minute. Then he let one eye land on Ox. He blinked at the boy for a moment. His eyes were blue the entire time they talked,,,now they were red and slitted. "We'll see about that." With that note, they were on the move again, moving outside the prison.

The Five, Jhong, Bandit, and June, saw them walk by. Viper was visibly worried by Naruto's disappointed face as he walked, so she slithered next to him and coiled around his shoulders. "What happened?" "We're on our own." Naruto said with a bit of anger, not directed at her, of course. She sighed and looked forward. They have an idea of what Shen was up to, but no one is willing to help them. One thing passed in her mind:

_I hope Sasuke and Mai got better results than us...where are they anyway?_

* * *

Sasuke flew through the air in a fewrcles as he was trying to find a point of interest to land on. Mai was sheepishly snuggling in his vest, lying in his chest feathers, since she was small enough for her robin size. He didn't really care for it, as long as she was comfy, content, and most importantly...quiet. That was a major part of his operation. He needed silence to try and complete it.

"Okay, my target of interest is this Shen guy. The complication is that I don't know where to find him, or what he could have ready for us if we do find him." Mai looked around for something that may serve to their interests. "Well...we never stopped to check that tall building in the middl of the city. Why don't we try that?" Sasuke thought of that as a good idea, and went flying to the bottom of the tower.

Sasuke being a hawk really helps, he seen that archers were set in various parts of the tower, ready to shoot down anything they don't recognize. He refuses to be torched, so he's only going to the bottom, a part completely unguarded. He landed gracefullt, and went inside. Goes to say, the place looks so much bigger when you're inside of it.

_Let's see if I can find something meaningful in this place..._Sasuke kept quiet as he sneaked through the corridors that were brightened by numerous amounts of torches. Because without them, the place would be too dark to see. He wanted to head to the lower floors first, since they were obviously closer. The stairway began to get darker, so he uses his Sharingan to see through. Mai found it fascinating, they just pierce through the dark with no effort.

He was walking through the room silently, when he heard something that sounded like hoarse breathing. Then he was able to see the chi of a living being inside on of these shackles. He kept Mai close and was careful not to make a sound. When he was able to see the figure completely, he was surprised by what he saw. Mai saw it too. "It's...Master Rhino..."

The rhino looks like he's been through a lot of torture and interrogation. He was bloody all over his body, his robe was torn, and his skin was also heavily bruised. But...his eyes stood out. They were unbreaking, and they alone were powerful looking enough to make Sasuke at least a little tense.

"Boy..." Sasuke stood in surprise as Rhino sensed him the entire time. "I know you are human. Just show your true form and face me appropriately." Sasuke was now shocked. _He knows? _He merely shrugged as he focused himself to turn back into his human form as Mai slid of his shirt, more intrigued than shocked. Rhino raise his head, and took a good look at Sasuke. He nodded.

"Ah...so you're the younger brother of Itachi, I presume?" Now...Sasuke was given a reason to be shocked. "How can you possibly know-" Before he could finish, he heard adoor close, and he grabbed Mai and dashed to a hiding place, because unnecessary fighting will do more harm than good. He peeked a little behind the barrel. The sound of clanking was echoing off the walls of the dark rooms, until it finally stopped.

"Ah...Rhino..." A peacock said quietly as he stood in front of him. The white robes, white feathers, crimson eyes. metal talons, and a huge train tail. He was looking down at Master Rhino with a smug look. "How's your stay? Comfy? Energized?" Rhino's act of defiance was to stay silent and look him in the eyes. "Care to introduce me to your friends?"

Sasuke cursed silently. He was cornered. There wasn't any way he could start a fight, because this peacock had an entire wolf army at his command. Plus, he didn't want to risk further injury to Rhino. He needed help, right away. Even more, Mai was scared and tugging on his shirt. It's also imperative to keep his identity as a ninja secret, or who knows what can happen. He changed back to hawk form, and lowered himself to blend to the shadows.

_I can't go charging...I'll have to stall and wait for the others...because this guy knows I have nowhere to go..._As he thought this, he ducked his head to an incoming knife that almost dug into his head. He sighed. _Great...he throws knives at an unseeable speed. I really have nowhere to go until I get some help. But nothing says I can't stall. _He flew himself at Shen as his talons went for a slash t his face, which was deflected by his lance. He skidded away, glaring at at the peacock. "Yeah. Definitely have to stall..."

* * *

**There's that one. Go ahead and Review, Follow, and Favorite when you can. Goodbye! _For now at least..._**


End file.
